28 October 2022
YOUNGSTERS JOIN the CWGC WORKFORCE FOR YOUCA DAY IN BELGIUM
On 20 October 2022, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission participated in YOUCA Day for the third time.
From left to right: Timon, Mathijs, Milan and Cies, our YOUCA Day 2022 students.
YOUCA stands for Youth for Change and Action.
On YOUCA Day, over 15.000 Belgian students worked for one day in several companies, donating the money earned to charity projects that are committed to a fair and sustainable society worldwide.
This year’s project partner is Rikolto, an organisation that, together with young people, looks for ways to sustainably feed our growing world population.
Rikolto trains youngsters to become agricultural entrepreneurs to contribute toward solving the climate problem with innovative solutions.
The CWGC team in Ieper welcomed students from the College Ieper to help our teams at various CWGC cemeteries.
Before the crack of dawn, the students arrived at the office in Ieper, to go on their way for a day of work at the CWGC. Even the day's rainy weather could not extinguish their enthusiasm.
Student Tiemon Riem was mentored by our works colleague Benjamin Fioen. After an introduction to engraving techniques, he tried a hand at engraving a piece of natural stone himself.
In the afternoon Tiemon joined the team at Polygon Wood Cemetery, helping the craftsmen with work on the pavement around the Cross of Sacrifice.
Matthijs Demeyere and Milan Debergh joined the Horticultural team at Bedford House Cemetery, where they learned more about border management at a CWGC cemetery.
They met the team and helped out maintaining the borders of the headstones.
Mathijs and Milan try their hand at horticulture at Bedford House Cemetery.
Cies Gevers was monitored by Surveyor Kelly Pauwels.
Cies visited Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery to learn more about the ongoing restoration there, followed by a construction site meeting with the contractor.
In the afternoon, Cies helped out with the inspection of the legibility of the headstones at Maple Copse Cemetery.
A big thank you again to our HR Team who pulled off another fantastic YOUCA Day. It is a great way to engage young people with our work and for them to remember those who are commemorated at our cemeteries.
Also thank you to the operational colleagues who mentored the students for the day!