Debrecen4U July 8, 2025

Summer holiday childcare in Debrecen – 2025

The city government will provide summer holiday care for primary school children aged 6 to 14 residing in Debrecen, organised by the Family and Child Welfare Centre of the City of Debrecen, between July 7 and August 15, 2025, at the Debrecen Fazekas Mihály Primary School.

This year’s childcare report was presented at a press conference by Deputy Mayor of Debrecen, Diána Széles; Head of the Family and Child Welfare Centre of the City of Debrecen, Ibolya Aurélia Orosz; and President of the Debrecen Charity Board, Edit Bódor, on July 7, 2025.

As Diána Széles said, among others, “Since Debrecen is a caring city, Debrecen does not consider summer childcare, which is a mandatory task for local governments, to be an obligation, but rather wants to offer children a real summer, a family-friendly, joyful experience camp with great love in the interest of a happier childhood. The numerous colourful programmes include activities such as a police dog show, regular trips to the Sziget-kék Thematic Playground, craft classes, Zumba, and even the performance of “Táncoslábú Szupernagyik” (“Dancing Super Grannies”), who performed their dances during the press conference.

The deputy mayor mentioned that this summer, the city will provide camping for a total of 260 children in this form and is spending more than HUF 15 million on this service, as it is free for families, apart from the meal fee. Of the 260 children, 106 spend all six weeks of summer childcare here; that is, almost their entire summer vacation. Despite the many programmes and games, this is not an easy situation for these children. Additionally, the staff at the family and child welfare centre pays more attention to them than average and, if necessary, provides them with emotional support. Diána Széles asked these children to enjoy these weeks, play a lot, and make friends with as many of their peers as possible. The large number of long-term campers also demonstrates the significant help that summer childcare provides to many families, offering an opportunity to keep their children safe, in a good place, and an experience-rich environment.

Diána Széles also highlighted that, as has been the case for some time, special attention is being paid to summer childcare for children with special educational needs this year as well. They are cared for in their group by a special education teacher. Twice as many assistants assist them as in other groups.

The deputy mayor thanked the Family and Child Welfare Centre of the City of Debrecen, the Debrecen Fazekas Mihály Primary School, as well as the staff and volunteers of each of the organisers and a total of 17 participating organisations, to whom the children can always turn with tremendous confidence, for their work and help. She also thanked those who make the summer days of the children at the camp more beautiful with various offerings.

The president of the Debrecen Charity Board, Edit Bódor, recalled that as a parent, using summer childcare for one to two weeks was a great help to her. This camp provides a community for children where they can not only spend time but also recharge their batteries, not only have fun but also learn while doing so, and learn from each other through the new friendships that are formed, which may even be of decisive importance in the future.

As Edit Bódor said, “In this year’s summer childcare, several member organisations of the Debrecen Charity Board: the EU-Roma Association, the Hungarian Reformed Charity Service, the Hungarian Cancer League, the Foundation for Children in Haláp, Refomix Nonprofit Public Benefit Ltd., the Northern Great Plain Regional Association of the Visually Impaired, the National Association of Large Families, and the New Health Foundation undertook to contribute to the implementation of programmes.

Thanks to the Debrecen Charity Board, children who are camping can participate in playful city and church history activities at the Reformed Great Church on Tuesday mornings if interested. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Debrecen Charity Board’s establishment, the “Garden of Love” will open on August 16 in the Memorial Garden behind the Great Church as part of Carnival Week. Decorative elements with floral motifs will be placed during this event. Among these, there will be some that children camping can make during the craft activities taking place as part of the summer childcare.

​​According to Ibolya Aurélia Orosz, the head of the Family and Child Welfare Centre of Debrecen, out of the 260 children mentioned above, an average of 150-200 children will visit the childcare centre each week this year in varying proportions. To make them feel as comfortable as possible, the family and child welfare centre contacted all parents and asked them about the activities their children would like to participate in, the skills and talents they possess that other children might be interested in, and what they expect from summer childcare. The discussions were beneficial, and the six-week programme was put together based on a summary of parents’ opinions.

Orosz Ibolya Aurélia also stated that 17 teachers participate in the sessions every week, four nurses from the Debrecen Primary Care and Health Development Institute (Daefi) conduct health education sessions daily, and eight student workers work with the children daily. The Family and Child Welfare Centre of the City of Debrecen has 20 employees present at the camp every week. All in all, a total of 240 people participate in the operation of the summer holiday childcare during the six weeks.

Source and photo credit:debrecen.hu