In January 2021, the chairwoman of the Grafinger youth initiative (Jig), Helen Hamburger, drew a sobering interim balance. “Not being able to sit around at the counter in a youth center has had a pretty negative impact on motivation over the months, not to mention concerts and events.” If no new people came, there would be gaps that could hardly be closed again. “The hard core of the active players has been with us for maybe three, four, five years.” Out of necessity, because then the training or the university will begin, the free time will be less. And the longer no “offspring” grow into it, the bleaker the perspective would be.
However, it is getting brighter on the ground floor of Rotter Strasse 8, reports Hamburger. The concerts started again at the end of August. After that there will be a solidarity party, the proceeds of which will go to “SeaEye”. The German aid organization uses most of its donations to rescue refugees in distress at sea in the Mediterranean. “Everything here makes a very committed impression.”
In Grafing, the younger generation is to be introduced to the youth club
Those who tended to be older, such as the 23-year-old, still took care of the board and administrative work. The Grafinger want to close the Corona young talent gap with a structural innovation. “We have a counter team with a key that can unlock the door to a certain extent without being a member of the board,” reports the Jig boss. The idea is intended to introduce younger people to work when Hamburg’s jig generation is about to retire. But there is another aspect to consider. “Such a meeting thrives on commitment, which requires motivation.” And young people also pull them from responsibilities such as serving at the counter.
The Grafinger Jig is not an isolated case, as a look at the Aktion Jugendzentrum eV (AJZ) in Ebersberg’s Dr.-Wintrich-Straße shows. The commitment of young people now seems higher to him than before the pandemic, says AJZ chairman Kilian Lößl. “Until then, juz was an absolute matter of course for most of us. The pandemic then showed how much it was missing.” Now the concerts and Q parties of the high schools started again. “People are really looking forward to it after the long break.”
Events and long opening hours are central to the self-governing meetings. With them, they generate the largest part of their operating budget through occasional admissions and the sale of drinks. In return, the respective cities pay the rent for the premises, for example. “For us, of course, a lot now depends on how the event options will continue in autumn, i.e. whether there will be restrictions again – and if so: which ones.”
Glonner young people want to revive the former local meeting place
While the cradle of the self-governing clubs in the district lies in Ebersberg and Grafing, there is a new start further south. A still small group around Kilian Schreiber from Glonn is the new board of directors of Jugendtreff Glonn eV “The fact that something is slowly happening again here is getting around very well in the community,” says Schreiber.
The active people also used the pandemic to bring the old premises in the “KiJuFa” building back into shape. “We are currently remodeling, the old floor is already out. We also want to install the music system in September, then we can really get started,” reports the 20-year-old. “In any case, people don’t feel like going to the bus station or the supermarket anymore.”