Danish People's Aid is in a really good place. Denmark needs a strong civil society with volunteers who make themselves available to help others, and therefore even more members and volunteers are needed, says chairman Lars Andersen.
WHAT ARE YOU BUSY WITH RIGHT NOW?
”"That we get a few more members and volunteers to be able to make a bigger difference for vulnerable families. It's an incredibly important job we do, because these people don't have the resources or resources to pull themselves together. Society often turns a blind eye to them, and it's our job to open their eyes and help them."”
HOW WILL IT HAPPEN?
”"By pushing and by doing our work. There is a broader political recognition that we need to have more stability in society. That we must not break down. We must overcome the growing inequality. We have a good welfare society, and we should be happy about that. But we also need a strong civil society that can act differently and has volunteers who make themselves available to help others. It is absolutely necessary. We are part of society, the cohesiveness, and our work with humanity, networks and helping hands is very important for the welfare society."”
HOW IS DANISH PEOPLE'S AID STANDING TODAY?
”"I think there is a great commitment. There is a great need for our work, and I am quite impressed with the organization's ability to raise money to help those who need help. Financially, we are in a really good place, and we are respected for our knowledge and professionalism. This means that foundations, among others, want to cooperate and co-finance our efforts. And volunteering is also part of our DNA. We need to have even more members and volunteers."”
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT ROLE AS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD?
”"To have a strategic perspective. The board must be overall and not work in detail. This also means that you have to put some caps away from time to time. You can include input from your experiences from the local department, but you can't include everything completely. Then there is a risk that we are dealing with too many individual cases, which are in reality operational matters. And that we don't get enough time and focus on what the board's task is.
In addition, I am committed to creating a unifying organization. With openness and dialogue. Everyone should feel that they are being heard, and everyone should know the direction. It is important to have a good atmosphere and a good working environment. That we can talk to each other, have good guidelines and prepare things properly, so that everyone is well dressed and no one feels left behind on the platform. The board can help create a good working environment by setting a realistic direction for the organization.”
WHAT HAS BEEN SPECIAL FOR THE BOARD'S WORK IN 2025?
”"I am very aware that the work of the board must rise above ordinary operations. The board's most important task is to provide direction, deal with important, more fundamental issues and check whether there is order in the pen house. When I joined at the end of 2024, an action plan for the coming years had just been adopted, which I very much agreed with. Organizations can often have a vague strategy that reaches further. But ours is an action plan, and it is good and concrete. The board is continuously focused on economic developments, which we follow and delve into in more detail in the finance committee. In 2025, there has been a focus on the work with first aid, which we have decided to invest more in. The board has also been involved in the decision on a new application portal for Christmas aid and changes to the criteria for receiving direct assistance. Now that there has been a new cash benefit reform, the criteria must keep up, so that people with a very small wage income can be eligible for support. In May 2026, we will follow up on the action plan and get started on a new one that will apply from 2027 to 2029.”
WHERE ARE WE GOING FORWARD?
We need to become more. We can achieve more when we are more. One area of focus should therefore be volunteerism, and how we get members and volunteers. We will continue the good work of creating good frameworks and guidelines. It is important to dress our members and volunteers with a good introduction and guidelines for our work. We are currently working on an important accreditation work in relation to our nationwide financial and debt advice, which will give us an even better foundation to stand on.”
