Building bridges for safe adventures
The Josef Fiege Foundation supports the St. Marien daycare centre in Greven. A donation of €1,000 was used to implement a construction project that enables children to play safely outdoors.
What the Golden Gate Bridge is to San Francisco or the Rialto Bridge is to Venice, the wooden climbing bridge in the garden of the St. Marien daycare centre in Greven was to many little adventurers. Over the years, the weather took its toll on the structure, forcing the bridge to be closed. This was a bitter pill for the facility to swallow, as the beloved bridge was considered an important identification symbol for the daycare centre. "The children love our bridge and playing outdoors. It wasn't easy to have to deny them access in recent months. But of course, the safety of the kids always comes first," says Marion Borgmann, head of the St. Marien daycare centre.
It became clear quickly that the bridge should not be demolished, but renovated. In order to enable the complex and costly repairs, the support association of the St. Marien daycare centre set out to find financial help. They found it, among other places, at the Josef Fiege Foundation of the Greven-based family business FIEGE, which provided €1,000 for the renovation. Borgmann says: "Finally, we have our bridge back. We are very grateful for the donation from FIEGE, which enabled us not only to repair it, but even to extend it."
Handing over the donation on the newly renovated bridge at St. Marien daycare centre in Greven (from left to right): Levke Busche, Nicole Busche (first chair of the St. Marien daycare centre support association), Johannes Engbruch (second chair of the St. Marien daycare centre support association), Kai Alfermann (board member of the Josef Fiege Foundation), Marion Borgmann (head of the St. Marien daycare centre) and Mette-Marie Hermanns (educational specialist in the Sun Group). (Photo: FIEGE)
Two new balconies have been added thanks to FIEGE's support: one features a telescope for observing the surrounding nature, while the other has a steering wheel and a climbing net so that children can become little captains while playing. Kai Alfermann, who together with Martina Schlottbom, Christoph Mangelmans and Frank Sievers forms the board of the Josef Fiege Foundation, explains: "We are delighted that our donation has helped to make the bridge safe to walk on and use again. And we hope everyone has lots of fun playing!"
