[To be discovered] The Hélène Borel Centre offers holidays to caregivers

2023-11-29T04:07:06.141Z

Highlights: Caroline Nio was vice-president of the General Council (now the Departmental Council) of the North when she discovered the disability sector through a job advertisement. In 2013, Caroline Nio bought a farm to create a unique place in France: the Ail'leurs farm in Arleux, Hauts-de-France. The idea is to make this centre a holiday structure for caregivers, accompanied by their "helpers" Today, the Hélène Borel Centre offers well-being, sports, tourist and group activities such as cooking workshops.

Caroline Nio was vice-president of the General Council (now the Departmental Council) of the North when she discovered the disability sector through a job advertisement. The year was 2004. The announcement "clicked" and she was recruited as the general director of the Hélène Borel Centre. Very quickly, she felt invested with a mission: to help caregivers. In France, nearly ten million people accompany people with disabilities every day. In 2013, Caroline Nio bought a farm to create a unique place in France: the Ail'leurs farm in Arleux, Hauts-de-France. The idea is to make this centre a holiday structure for caregivers, accompanied by their "helpers". To get this plan up and running, Caroline Nio and her team are completely rehabilitating the structure to adapt it to the very high dependency of people with disabilities. Its objective is also to bring a touch of sustainable development to this center. How do you find funding when you're piloting a project that doesn't fit into any box? Very quickly, Caroline Nio had to face difficulties, especially since the construction of the establishment began in 2020, in the midst of the Covid crisis. The result: a surge in prices and a shortage of certain raw materials... But the entrepreneur repeats it over and over again: "if you're convinced of an idea, don't give up"! Today, the Hélène Borel Centre offers well-being, sports, tourist and group activities such as cooking workshops. In this episode of the podcast "Impacts Solidaires" presented by journalist Elisabeth Assayag, Caroline Nio tells the story of her project, the difficulties she encountered and gives some valuable advice. This podcast is a Europe 1 Studio production in partnership with France Active and with the support of Mirova Foundation.