The Warmest Week, which starts on December 18, will look different this year from previous years. The focus this year is not on raising money, but on personal commitment and the goal is to thank people who have made a difference this year.
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‘Certainly this year, a lot of people volunteered for someone else. With a helping hand or a listening ear. All these warm gestures – no matter how small – deserve a big thank you ‘, it sounds at VRT. “Everyone needs some positivity and warmth.”
This time the VRT solidarity campaign does not collect any more money in the week before Christmas, but instead encourages people to make a difference for someone else, such as volunteering for example. The aim is to point the way to projects that directly support vulnerable people. More than 725 initiatives have already been registered on the Warmste Week website. That is less than last year when there were more than 13,000 initiatives. The VRT showed earlier know not to worry because a new concept takes some time.
Soup Box, Hottest Choir and silent disco
Furthermore, people can thank each other through actions that one, Studio Brussels, Radio 2, Ketnet and MNM set up this week. Dieter Coppens, known from the reality series ‘Down the road’, travels around Flanders with a soup bus to thank as many people as possible with soup. Every day he gets a new ‘soup athlete’, including Kevin from the first season of ‘Down the road’. In addition, Joris Hessels will visit people who provide warmth and solidarity for the One program ‘Everyone is famous’.
Ketnet asked Ketnetters to let them know who made their year warmer. Wrappers Gloria, Sarah, Sien, Sander and Thomas will thank them this week.
The presenters of Studio Brussel, who were central to Warmste Week in previous years, continue to thank people with music. Eight Studio Brussel presenters play so-called ‘Beats of Love’ from various warm places in Leuven. 19 of those places have already been determined, Studio Brussel will look for place 20 during De Warmste Week. Furthermore, people from Leuven can nominate their street as De Warmste Straat. One street wins a corona-proof mini-concert by the Leuven singer Selah Sue on Christmas Eve.
Radio 2 also provides a singing thank you with Het Warmste Koor. Especially for De Warmste Week, Noordkaap gave their sing-along song ‘I love you’ a corona-proof new look. The karaoke version will be on radio2.be and listeners can sing the version of the song for someone who has made a difference for them.
Radio station MNM would like to thank young people for their efforts this year with a corona-safe silent disco party. Dj Brahim takes to the track to thank listeners who have done something ‘warm’. Other MNM DJs help listeners with their initiative for De Warmste Week. The channel is also launching a Tiktok challenge together with Ketnet.
Finally, Radio 1 will focus this week on the theme of loneliness and the program ‘Byloo’ will be launching De Warmste Belcirkel. Bart Peeters and Siska Schoeters will close on Thursday 24 December with ‘De Warmste Dankuwel van het Jaar’ on one.
The fact that no more money is being collected just this year, met with protests from charities earlier this year. So called the umbrella association, Fundraiser Alliance, the decision of the VRT ‘a bolt from the blue for the charity sector’.
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