Funding project 05/2025 Guardian Angel Works Berlin “Easter Holiday Program 2025“

While researching our funding planning for 2025, we came across a unique institution in Berlin, the Guardian Angel Works in Berlin. Under the umbrella of a non-profit association, their goal of helping and supporting needy young people and (street) children fits so much with our support ideas and guidelines that we decided to find out more about how we carry out the work of the dedicated carers can support the children in their care. The visit took place on November 13th in Berlin-Steglitz, where the foundation board was welcomed with interest and joy by the managing director, Ms. Bianca Sommerfeld, and the children present. 

The Guardian Angel House with branches in the districts of Steglitz, Pankow, Eberswalde and Hohenschönhausen are day play and educational centers in which needy and disadvantaged children from socially disadvantaged as well as migrant families receive protection and help, and are taught language and education and supported through them Recognition can be lovingly valued. The guardian angels work unbureaucratically and with a lot of enthusiasm for these young people who still have their future ahead of them and need support on their way to a life of their own choosing. We get the children out of their isolation through no fault of their own, build and strengthen their often low self-esteem and integrate them into a social environment.We strengthen their gifts and talents, promote their education, sometimes through school tutoring and homework help, and involve them in leisure activities, games and creativity and joint ventures. Through targeted support and care, the guardian angels strengthen the childrens self-esteem and improve their future opportunities - for a self-determined and successful life as adults, says Bianca Sommerfeld. 

Up to 35 children and young people come together after school in each Guardian Angel House. They receive a warm lunch, with particular attention to a healthy diet. It is cooked in-house. The children are then supported and looked after individually or collectively by the carers. On Saturdays, the children come together for brunch and then play or do something together. 

Easter holiday program 2025: 

The holiday program during the school holidays in particular is an important but also very costly challenge for the Guardian Angel House. Age-appropriate leisure and holiday activities for these children are essential in order to offer them valuable experiences and positive development opportunities that they would often not have otherwise. Through an educationally valuable holiday program, children can discover new skills, strengthen their self-confidence and build social skills in a protected environment. Such experiences not only promote their personal development, but also give those unforgettable memories and a feeling of belonging and appreciation. 

We, the guardian angels, have come up with a varied program for the Easter holidays, which now needs to be financed. These include a visit to the cinema with popcorn and a drink (approx. 350€), the trampoline park Jump Room (approx. 390€), SEA Life Berlin (approx. 450€), a trip to Karls strawberry farm in Brandenburg including a bus ride (750€) and climbing in the Jungfernheide forest high ropes course (approx. 250€). Financial support is also needed for our big Easter Saturday brunch, where we organize a large, healthy and delicious breakfast followed by an egg hunt for the children (approx. €250). In addition, there are food costs for the packed lunches (€75 per day of the excursion), says Bianca Sommerfeld. 

After our conversation, partly in the pleasant hustle and bustle of children, we were very impressed by the commitment and work of the guardian angels and agreed that we would initially contribute a financial part to the planned Easter holiday program for 2025 and advertise for possible further donations.

(All photos: Schutzengelwerk Berlin, with kind permission for publication)

 Berlin and Wetzlar, November 14th, 2024

Dieter & Bettina Wulkow Foundation, Wetzlar