"There was sea and sand": 5000 young people for the "Day of the forgotten of the holidays"

REPORTAGE

5000 children gathered on the beach of Cabourg (Calvados) this Wednesday to participate in the 42nd day of the forgotten of the holidays organized by the Secours populaire.

A hundred coaches left the Paris region this morning with young Ile-de-France residents in a precarious situation, who did not have the chance to leave this summer.

On the volunteer side, 1,500 people were responsible for supervising activities on the beach: volleyball, obstacle course, distribution of books, making bracelets and even… swimming, despite an overcast sky and only 18 degrees on the thermometer. 

Memories to tell at the start of the school year

And to believe these two little girls, Kaléyatu and Aurélia, the day was obviously a success.

"There was the sea, the sand. We went swimming and we made bracelets and necklaces. There was even a man who was blowing bubbles so we played with it. We had a great time." , assures one of them.

Despite the weather, some therefore jumped into the water.

But bathing or not, for the Secours populaire, the most important thing is above all that these children can have memories to share with their classmates at the start of the school year and that they do not feel excluded.

>> Find Europe evening in replay and podcast here

Because one in three children does not go on vacation in the summer. A proportion that could also worsen after a year and a half of health crisis. An observation observed by Henriette Steinberg, national secretary of the Secours populaire and guest of Europe Midi Wednesday. "We have new families who are in difficulty when they had never been confronted with these problems and who come to meet us," she explained. This Wednesday evening the buses were back for a well-deserved night's rest, including for the volunteers present today to accompany the children.