Sport often unaffordable

Hobby Lobby gives children hope and a future

Over 2100 children were able to attend leisure courses in the previous year(Bild: Simon Groifhofer)

Every fifth child in Vienna is affected by poverty or at least at risk. The consequences are dramatic. For many, a social life is unaffordable. 

Hobbies are often expensive and many can simply no longer afford extracurricular activities. Rosa Bergmann, Managing Director of the Hobby Lobby association, is well aware of this: "Those who are already struggling to cope with rising rents, energy and food prices will struggle to find the money for membership fees."

Many families don't have the money to pay for children to join the association, and we want to counteract this.

Rosa Bergmann, GF Hobby Lobby

Bild: Valerie Loudon

Children are falling behind
And the consequences are dramatic. Children whose parents can afford to pay for all of this are increasing their academic lead and skills even further, because we learn 70 percent of our knowledge outside of educational institutions through social interaction. If this is lacking, mental health problems also increase.

Great results last year
This is where Hobby Lobby comes in. The association offers free leisure courses for children from disadvantaged families. In coding, photography, chess, volleyball or Korean, the professionals work to make further education in leisure time accessible to all children. This was more important than ever in 2023. In the previous year, over 33,000 hours of childcare were offered to over 2,100 children. The association also opened four new locations.