Press release -
Bowspirit Kids - Turning children's tears into tears of joy
Wouldn't it be great if there was a place where sick and traumatised children could go to relax and unwind? Where the seriousness of the disease and the worries of family and friends could be forgotten for a time?
A place where it doesn't matter where you come from, but who you are.
We are creating exactly such a place: A floating holiday and recreation camp for sick and traumatised children. A ship that can also be used for maritime adventure-based and experiential learning programmes for kids to discover and explore the ocean.
The name Bowspirit Kids expresses this place. It is an idea that will become a great one if you help out now.
Unfortunately children are not spared from experiencing such traumatic events as the diagnosis of a serious illness, death of a loved one or having to flee your home and country. The mental, emotional and physical stress of hospital stays, treatments and therapy is often an everyday occurrence for the child and his/her family for years. If the child has to travel far from home for the treatments, the stressful situation is exacerbated even more. Many of the young patients are not allowed to enjoy the usual childhood activities: playing, swimming, climbing and a lot more.
The aim of the activities of the Bowspirit Kids Group is to establish a facility that will give sick and traumatised children and their siblings - often called the "shadow children" - the opportunity to have fun and take a recreation from the illness. Bowspirit Kids views itself as a nautical holiday camp that does not take a specific, overarching therapeutic approach, but of course includes individual therapy and treatments. Our focus is on enjoying life, having fun and being a kid.
"Water is our element", says co-initiator and managing director Michael Speckenbach. "In terms of evolutionary history, all life on our planet comes from the sea. What could be more obvious than to use the sea as a healing power. Our source is the starting point for a brief journey to one's inner self - for our young guests as well - and thus the basis for a powerful 'something has happened to me - and that's right!'."
The concept of the Bowspirit Kids Group therefore envisages the establishment of a year-round nautical camp for sick and traumatised children and their siblings that utilises the mobility of a passenger ferry to operate outside of the base location and which has all the necessary facilities on board.
Depending on the current volume of donations and the proceeds from commercial sponsoring activities, sea voyages to various locations worldwide are planned in the coming years, in order to present the Bowspirit Kids Group and its work there and to initiate further projects based on the guiding theme of a "recreation from illness". The visits to the locations should also provide sufficient time for local encounters, "taster stays" and educational adventure-based camps.
"With today's presentation in our future home port of Lübeck, this very ambitious project is entering a decisive phase," says Speckenbach. "We are convinced that our society is ready to make a vision come true together with us."
Renate Schönbohm, member of the Board of Trustees of the Bowspirit Kids Group, adds: "Humankind's most precious assets - our children - in some situations, need safe ferries to cross the sometimes stormy ocean of life. Bowspirit Kids achieves just that - literally and figuratively." Board member Prof. Dr. Salvatore Grisanti sums up: "We want to turn children's tears into tears of joy."
None other than Walt Disney said "If you can dream it, you can do it." - What about you? Can you imagine how our young guests meet their family again happily and strengthened after their stay on board with us? Then help out now that our common vision becomes reality …
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Topics
- Health Organisations
The Bowspirit Kids Group was founded in spring 2018 in Lübeck, Germany. Our activities focus on the creation of a maritime holiday and recreation camp that will give sick and traumatised children and their siblings - often called the "shadow children" - the opportunity to have fun and take a recreation from the illness. To this aim, we want to take advantage of the mobility of a passenger ferry to be able to operate outside of the base location in order to present the Bowspirit Kids Group and its work worldwide and to initiate further projects based on the guiding theme of a "recreation from illness".
The group has two companies - the non-profit company Bowspirit Kids gemeinnützige GmbH (www.bowspirit-kids.org) and the commercially managed Bowspirit Management GmbH (www.bowspirit-management.com), which are intertwined under company law in such a way that the profits generated cannot be distributed to shareholders, but are directed towards the overarching charitable objective.
The Bowspirit Kids Group intends not to base its activities solely on classical donations, but also to raise financial resources through social events and business sponsorships. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the campaign "The world's largest floating pinboard" was launched as kick-off event.
