Interview: Youth development at the Wolfgang and Regina Böllhoff Foundation
Education as the key to success: this sums up the guiding principle behind the work of the Wolfgang and Regina Böllhoff Foundation. In this interview, Chairwoman Anja Böllhoff and founding donor Dr Wolfgang W. Böllhoff look back on over 16 years of youth development at the foundation. They talk about the foundation itself, the generational change and the work in both programmes.
Dr Böllhoff, you founded the Wolfgang and Regina Böllhoff Foundation together with your wife in 2006. What was your motivation?
Dr Wolfgang W. Böllhoff: We have often talked about how lucky we have been in life. We both grew up in solid, Christian families and had a good education. Then I grew into the Böllhoff company and - above all - had healthy children.
But we also saw a lot of misery and injustice in the world and asked ourselves: How can we alleviate these developments a little bit? We realized that people who are educated and have learned something are the least susceptible to evil. That's how we came to set up the foundation.
Mrs Böllhoff, you took over the chairmanship of the foundation from your father-in-law in 2022. What is your motivation for volunteering?
Anja Böllhoff: I don't see it as "just" volunteering, but as a mixture of profession and passion. When I look back on my youth, I always wanted to do something similar.
And coincidence in life has led me to do what I like to do - and perhaps a bit well: bringing people together who want to do good. And to use my work in foundations to find solutions to social problems by joining forces.
Foundation Chairwoman Anja Böllhoff (2nd from right) with the programme directors
The foundation supports young people who otherwise receive little support - with the "Ich will" and "Hand in Hand" programmes. What exactly happens there?
Anja Böllhoff: Both are educational programmes that each extend over two or three years. With "Ich will", we address pupils from comprehensive, secondary and intermediate schools, aged between 14 and 18. The primary aim of the programme is to help the sponsored students achieve a good school-leaving certificate.
The second programme, "Hand in Hand", developed from the wave of refugees arriving in Germany in 2015. Here we address young people with a migrant or refugee background - aged 17 to 22, unaccompanied or living in families. This programme has three overarching goals: vocational orientation, acquiring language skills and strengthening self-esteem.
»"We want young people to say after graduation that they can do something they never thought possible - that they have opened themselves up to new things. They used to want to reach for the stars, now they can reach for the stars."
How many young people take part in the programmes?
Anja Böllhoff: There are around 60 young people on the "Ich will" programme at the Bielefeld and Finsterwalde locations. At "Hand in Hand", we currently have 30 sponsored students in the programme. To give you some more figures: From the foundation's inception until 2023, we have already sponsored 216 young people in the "Ich will" programme and 48 in the "Hand in Hand" programme.
Dr Wolfgang W. Böllhoff: All graduates receive a certificate detailing what they have learned and experienced during their training.
In both programmes, the mentors, who accompany the young people 1:1 during the support period, also play a special role?
Anja Böllhoff: Yes. We currently have 83 mentors in Bielefeld and 30 in Finsterwalde. They are women and men from a wide range of professions who enjoy helping young people.
Dr Wolfgang W. Böllhoff: The basic prerequisite for becoming a mentor is a love of children - and trustworthiness. Ultimately, it's not a question of age. Our youngest mentor is only 32, is enthusiastic and does a very good job. We are delighted when we hear from the women and men that the task and the contact with the young people enriches their own lives.
»"It's a real pleasure to see mature, self-confident students on stage at the graduation ceremonies of the programmes who have actually taken something with them."
And you also attach great importance to strengthening young people's self-esteem in the programmes?
Anja Böllhoff: Absolutely. We want young people to say after graduation that they can do something they never thought possible - that they have opened themselves up to new things. They used to want to reach for the stars, now they can reach for the stars.
Dr Wolfgang W. Böllhoff: Being self-confident and committed to life - if you can do that, you will be successful. You know, it's a real pleasure to see mature, self-confident students on stage at the graduation ceremonies after three years who have actually taken something with them.
Mrs. Böllhoff, let's take a look ahead: what challenges will the foundation face in the coming years?
Anja Böllhoff: We see the challenges primarily in the change in social conditions. The coronavirus pandemic has played a decisive role here, it has had a significant impact on young people - by forcing them to withdraw into their own four walls. We have noticed that motivation has declined and knowledge gaps have widened.
We had and still have to get the young people out of all this and convey the joy of being together and going out. That won't be easy. But I am very confident that we will find the right answers.
*This conversation is an excerpt from an interview from the Bielefeld church magazine "Jost", issue 01/2023, conducted by journalist Manfred Matheisen.
Source main photo of the article: "Jost Kirchenmagazin für Bielefeld", 1/23, Bielefeld, Bonifatius Verlag, Paderborn. Photographer: Jörg Diekmann
Taking responsibility through youth development
Opening up equal opportunities in education for young people: the Wolfgang and Regina Böllhoff Foundation
Since its establishment in December 2006, the Wolfgang and Regina Böllhoff Foundation has been supporting young people who receive little support from their parents. Behind this is the heartfelt desire of the founding family to promote equal opportunities and fair access to education for young people.
Today, this goal is implemented through two educational programmes: "Ich will" and "Hand in Hand". In both programmes, young people are encouraged in their personal development and supported in finding their place in society and in working life. Individual support for young people and 1:1 mentoring by volunteer mentors play a key role in this.
