“There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”
Their aim is to bring groups of children into contact with nature during after-school sessions. Through outdoor play the children learn how to interact with other kids, develop their creativity and discover nature. There are regularly 170 children in Struin’s care, guided by a well trained team of 30 staff split across three locations in Nijmegen.
Struin use bikes to collect the children from school and take them to various local nature spots. Part of the appeal is that children are out in fresh air not only for the session, but also for the journey there and back. After the sessions on the return journey, the bikes act like a bus; parents can choose to pick up their child from various pre-arranged drop off points at fixed times, or at a central collection point.
One of the bikes they use was developed by Struin along with Dutch manufacturer Tolkamp Metaalspecials. They have 10 of these and each one allows a single staff member to transport up to 11 children. Luckily for that staff member, the children join in with pedalling. The organisation has various types of cargo bikes, allowing them the flexibility to handle several groups of varying sizes. These include 8 Radkutsche Trikes, 10Redding KDV-BSO Trikes and one Nihola Trike.