Active in old age

There are numerous senior citizens' groups and meeting places for older people run by older people in Bocholt. They are active in many areas and on various topics.

These include culture, politics, health, leisure, hobbies and socialising. You can obtain the contact addresses from the City of Bocholt's senior citizens' office. You can also contact the church-organised groups at the respective parish offices.

This link will take you to Bocholt Maps, where you can search for offers on your own:

Bocholt Maps - Seniors

There are also neighbourhood centres for young and old. They offer various leisure activities as well as on-site consultation hours on different topics.

Click here to go directly to the neighbourhood centres

"How can I successfully organise my post-work phase of life?"

The projects of the "Engagiert in Bocholt" initiative are exemplary of the many opportunities to become active as a volunteer. "Engagiert in Bocholt" is the name of the former "Kreis der Begegnung", which emerged in 2007 from the project "Senioren planen für Seninoren", which was awarded the Robert Jungk Prize.

"Engagiert in Bocholt" is funded and supported by the City of Bocholt's senior citizens' office, the association "Leben im Alter" and Stadtsparkasse Bocholt.

Projects:

Mouse Mobile

The Internet offers endless opportunities to obtain more information about the world, people and numerous topics. The Mouse Mobil group wants to make it easier for older people to use computers. That's why the group's volunteers teach other senior citizens the basics of using computers, tablets and smartphones, the internet and e-mail free of charge. They are happy to come to your home for this.

If you have any questions about using your laptop, tablet or smartphone, then the open PC consultation hour is the right place for you. These take place on the following days:

Apollonia Diepenbrock House, Moltkestraße 4
every Tuesday from 10.00 - 11.30 a.m.

Stadtsparkasse Bocholt, Neutorplatz 1
every Thursday from 3.30 - 5.00 pm

Prötkes and Dönkes up'n Naomiddag

The group aims to preserve and pass on the Bocholt dialect. As part of a Low German regulars' table, there is the opportunity to tell stories and dialects in Bocholt dialect or in High German at regular intervals, to chat with each other and to share memories. Anyone can join in. The group meets every third Thursday of the month at 4 pm in the museum restaurant "Schiffchen", Uhlandstraße 50.

Individual voluntary support

"Individual Volunteer Support" is aimed at older people living alone with little or no social contact and often a low budget. Volunteers visit senior citizens at home and give them a little of their time (e.g. for conversations, walks, joint activities, etc.). This offer protects older people from loneliness and also enables them to participate in public life.

Altentheater "Spätzünder"

The Bocholt Altentheater "Spätzünder" is aimed at all senior citizens who enjoy theatre, who want to see the world with new eyes and who want to engage with memory and imagination or with coordination and perception. Anyone over the age of 50 can take part in the theatre. The Spätzünder rehearse weekly on Wednesdays. The theatre performances will take place in the St.-Josef-Gymnasium (Kapu) until the town hall renovations are completed.
In addition, the "Spätzünder" are also regularly active as environmental clowns in co-operation with the Bocholt waste disposal and service company (ESB) and as movement clowns in Bocholt kindergartens.

Senior partners for Bocholt schools

Senior partners can get involved in many areas at primary and secondary schools in Bocholt. Depending on your interests and skills, you can support lessons in the mornings, e.g. as a learning or swimming companion, or in the afternoons helping with homework and in the various working groups for culture, crafts, sport, home economics, etc. If you enjoy working with children and are patient and empathetic, the children and teaching staff look forward to your involvement. Of course, you determine the framework, scope and focus of the activities for all projects. We offer regular training and exchange meetings. You will also have access to contact persons who will support you in this task.

Senior Internet café "Weltblick"

Fridays from 2 pm in the Quartierstreff am Brunnen, Breslauer Str. 2, 46397 Bocholt.

Here you can surf the Internet to your heart's content and at the same time have the opportunity to exchange ideas with like-minded people. During opening hours, you will also always find competent volunteers on hand to give you advice.

At present, around 200 people are active as volunteers in a wide variety of working and project groups.

If you would also like to get involved or would like to know more about the individual projects, please contact the following offices:

Senior Citizens' Office of the City of Bocholt
Berliner Platz 2 (Shopping Arkaden), 46395 Bocholt
Tel. 953-2234 or 953-2342

Leben im Alter e.V.
Dortmunder Str. 6, 46397 Bocholt
Tel. 2176566

Bocholter Bürgergenossenschaft eG

The co-operative idea "Help from person to person" is lived in the Bocholter Bürgergenossenschaft. This is based on the principle of mutual help between members. As part of our community, interested parties can be both service providers and service recipients. Anyone who wants to provide services for others and/or receive support themselves can join. Service recipients do not necessarily have to be members. The principle of mutual help is realised through a time exchange system. BBG eG mediates, coordinates and books the provision of services between the parties involved.

Would you like to help and do something for the community?
Are you looking for meaningful work?
Or ... Do you need help?
Do you need support?

Find out more at the
Bocholter Bürgergenossenschaft eG
Niederbruch 3
46397 Bocholt
Tel. 2927916

Learning in old age

"My dream is to start something completely new again. I want to study history, for example! But it's too late for that now "

No, it certainly doesn't have to remain a dream. Now you have the chance to follow your interests and boldly choose what you really want to do. Think about what knowledge you want to deepen or acquire. The first step could be a course at a further education centre, for example.

Further education provider:

Bocholt-Rhede-Isselburg Adult Education Centre
Lernwerk, Industriestraße 1
46395 Bocholt
Tel. 02871/953-2277

Family Education Centre (Fabi)
Ostwall 39
46397 Bocholt
Tel. 02871/239 48-0

I'm off to study...

Many universities and universities of applied sciences, such as Münster, offer special study programmes for senior citizens. Whether senior citizen studies, guest auditor studies or certificate studies - the options are many and varied. For more information about the University of Münster, please contact the:

Contact centre for studying in old age
Georgskommendestr. 14
48143 Münster
Tel. 0251/8 32 40 04

culture

"I would like to see something other than the TV screen ..."

Good idea! Whether theatre, cabaret, library or museum. You'll be amazed at how much there is to discover in your neighbourhood.

Theatre, stage, cinema

The Stadttheater Bocholt e.V. association offers touring events for the big stage in all genres: demanding plays from the entire spectrum of classical and modern theatre literature characterise the programme, as do musical theatre, concerts and ballet performances.

Due to the renovation of the town hall and the municipal theatre, the Drosselsaal in the Textilwerk is the current venue.
For all information about the programme and tickets, please contact: Tel:1 23 09

Cultural venue "Alte Molkerei"
Werther Street 16
46395 Bocholt
www.alte-molkerei.info

Theatre, comedy, music and much more cabaret - all this is available at the
The cultural venue "Alte Molkerei" caters to a wide variety of tastes. The programme and tickets are available from the tourist information office.

City library

The Bocholt City Library Hindenburgstr. 5, Tel. 2589-100 offers all citizens a comprehensive range of non-fiction and specialised books, novels and short stories, newspapers and magazines as well as music CDs, audio books and DVDs. You can obtain specialist information and library advice on selecting literature and searching for information at any time.

If you need a supply of reading material and have a smartphone, tablet or PC, you can also use the city library's digital download service "muensterload". Older library customers who find it difficult to travel to the library can also browse through the media selection at home and then download a selection onto their eBook reader. The font size can be adjusted to suit your visual acuity for relaxed hours of browsing.

All holders of a Bocholt City Library user card can use the additional literary offer free of charge - 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. There are currently around 45,000 electronic media from a wide range of areas available for loan. As a welcome bonus on top of this: electronic borrowing does not incur any overdue fines, as the "return" takes place automatically after the expiry date.

"I would still like to go travelling, but no longer alone."

In addition to the usual travel providers, some Bocholt charities and associations have adapted to the special wishes and needs of older people when travelling. Depending on your interests, they offer you the opportunity to gather new impressions in a group of like-minded people, to do something for your health or simply to relax and feel good.

For people who cannot afford a holiday from their own resources, there is the possibility of receiving church or public subsidies. If you have health restrictions, some organisations also offer selected trips with supportive accompaniment. Enquire at the welfare organisations in Bocholt.

A spa holiday is a good way to strengthen your physical and mental health. This can be subsidised by your health insurance company. You can find out more about this from your local health insurance company.

Here are other offers that you can find directly in Bocholt:

Caritas Bocholt offers a varied recreational programme for senior citizens. The trips, which last several days, lead to selected destinations in Germany.
Volunteer tour guides are present on every trip and personal specialities are also taken into account.

"Travelling without suitcases" - These day trips enable people with dementia and their relatives to experience a break together. The trips are completely barrier-free, offer attractive holiday destinations in the region on a budget and are competently accompanied by specialist staff.

Caritas Association for the Deanery Bocholt e.V.
Nordwall 44 -46
46399 Bocholt
Tel. 2513-1203 and 2513-1205

The Katholische Ferienwerk Bocholt regularly offers 8 to 10-day study trips for senior citizens. You can find the latest information in the brochures, which are available from autumn in the branches of Volksbank Bocholt and in the Catholic parish churches in Bocholt or from

Katholisches Ferienwerk Bocholt
Heinestraße 20
46399 Bocholt
Tel. 995644

"On tour with L-i-A" - The L-i-A travel programme gives older people the opportunity to escape their own four walls every now and then and discover something new. The trips are accompanied and supervised by qualified staff. The annual brochure with interesting half-day and full-day trips is available from a wide range of public organisations or contact

Verein Leben im Alter e.V.
Adenauerallee 59
46399 Bocholt
Tel. 217 65-66

I've never done any active sport, and now that I'm older I can't do it any more. Where can I find ideas and sports activities that are suitable for my age and state of health?"

Many health problems are caused by a lack of exercise. Stiff joints and restricted movement are not an argument against sensible physical activity. If you want to improve your condition or simply stay fit, you should integrate your individual exercise and sports programme into your everyday life.

The motto is: having fun is better than fighting doggedly for peak performance. Walking, Nordic walking, hiking, dancing, cycling, gymnastics and many other sports can be practised particularly well and entertainingly in a club.

There are currently 51 sports clubs in Bocholt with around 30,000 members, offering a wide range of sports. You can find out more about the individual sports clubs and sports in the brochure "Sport in Bocholt".

Download:
Brochure "Sport in Bocholt" (pdf, 3.6 MB)

In Bocholt, a number of new programmes have been created for senior citizens, examples of which are presented here:

Not with me - self-defence with a walking stick -

The aim of this offer is to give senior citizens the necessary self-confidence through simple and effective behaviour in theory and practice so that they can move around in public and in the house with less fear.

Some examples from the current course programme:

Body language
• for a confident demeanour in public and at home
Pickpockets
• love crowds and dense crowds
How
• to react to a group of people I feel threatened by

The exercises include training in body awareness, balance, relaxation and breathing techniques, the gentle way of self-assertion and self-defence, martial arts and meditation in motion, as well as the use of everyday objects e.g. walking stick, shopping bag, mobile phone.

It all starts with a 2-week free trial. After that, you can sign up for a six-week course at any time. Afterwards, you have the option of continuing your training.
Training always takes place on Wednesdays from 10.30 am - 11.30 am. No special sporting achievements are required for the course.

Hatzky Sports Centre
Franzstr. 97, 46395 Bocholt
Phone: 02871-6337
E-mail: info(at)sportcenter-hatzky(dot)de

Boules

More and more senior citizens are discovering boules for themselves. Some clubs in Bocholt have active groups. Playing boules regularly is good for your health: you get some exercise in the fresh air, improve your concentration and coordination and socialise with like-minded people. For up-to-date information, please refer to the clubs' websites:

Sportfreunde 97/30 Lowick e.V.

TuB Bocholt 1907 e.V.

TSV Bocholt 1867/1896 e.V.

GSV Viktoria 09 Suderwick e.V.

Bocholter Wassersportverein 1920 e.V.

Information on the "Bewegt älter werden" programme of the Borken District Sports Association in Bocholt can be found here: KSB Borken