What does 'JeugdFilatelie Nederland' stand for?

Founded on 19 February 1954, JeugdFilatelie Nederland (the Junior Philatelic Society of the Netherlands) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2004, by organising a wonderful event in the Autotron, Rosmalen: Stamp Kids. However, it involvement with youth clubs stretches back even further. In 1932, several committee members of the Groningen Philatelists’ Association attended a meeting of the Netherlands Society of Philatelists Associations (NBFV), which was convened in Breda. They discovered there that the Breda association had an active youth branch comprising some fifty members. The members returned home to the north in an enthusiastic frame of mind, and a junior branch was also set up in Groningen soon afterwards. In 1936, the Utrecht Philatelic Society also founded a junior branch.

The interest in establishing junior branches continued to grow among associations, which adopted the motto: ‘Wie the jeugd heeft, heeft the toekomst,’ which roughly translates as ‘the future lies in the hands of our youngsters’. However, the association did not go so far as to set up a national organisation. Things picked up again after WWII, however, and efforts to form a society recommenced in 1947. Then finally, the ‘Contact Committee for Philatelic Youth Work in the Netherlands’ was formally established on 22 January 1949. A press release issued to the Netherlands Press Agency (ANP) on that date, described the committee’s mission, which remains valid to this day:

• To support the stamp-collecting youth of the Netherlands, in the
  broadest possible context of the term.
• To issue guidelines for philatelic information.
• To publish a special philatelic magazine for Dutch youngsters.

It actually took several years longer to ultimately fulfil this long cherished ambition. On 19 February 1954, a notarial deed was passed which established the ‘Foundation for Philatelic Youth Work in the Netherlands’. On 3 September the same year, the Society and the Foundation concluded an agreement, in which the former recognised the latter as the appointed organisation for the coordination of junior philately in the Netherlands. The foundation changed its name to JeugdFilatelie Nederland (JFN) in 1985.

The JFN is the umbrella organisation representing some eighty junior stamp collectors’ clubs. It organises philatelic events and gives work-shops for youth leaders. The JFN publishes books on stamp collecting,

written in the youngsters’ own language (three volumes entitled ‘ABC van het postzegels verzamelen’, the first of which is also available with the English title The ABC of Stamp Collecting).it also publishes the youth periodical ‘De Posthoorn’, which is currently incorporated in the monthly magazine ‘Filatelie’.

A substantial portion of the society’s activities is aimed at youth leaders, who are in a position to give their young club members a great deal of pleasure by introducing them to a fantastic hobby. Youth leaders therefore play a pivotal role in this field. In addition to those youngsters who are members of organised stamp clubs, however, there are thousands of other kids who collect stamps. In cooperation with the Philately Foundation, the Netherlands Society of Philatelists Associations (NBFV), the Dutch Stamp Dealers’ Association (NVPH) and TNT Post, the JFN therefore set up the schools project ‘Onder de loep’, or Beneath the Magnifying Glass, designed to acquaint boys and girls from primary class 6 upwards with postage stamps and how exciting they can be. This project material may also prove extremely useful to afterschool programmes during the gloomy period of winter. Particularly for children living in areas where there is no junior stamp club, furthermore, the Stamp Kids Club has been set up on the Internet. The club, which has a membership of over 1100, can be found at www.stampkids.org. The Internet offers great opportunities. The JFN therefore intends to digitise all its material, to which it will then make interactively accessible.

The JFN and Stamp Passion 2008
The JFN will be widely represented during Stamp Passion 2008, with not only a large information stand, but also an exhibition in which junior collectors display their talents in the field of making album pages and composing all sorts of stamp collections.

In addition, many of the event’s activities are aimed at the younger visitors of Junior Plaza. However, interested adults are also welcome. The activities include the following:

• selecting free stamps from the colossal stamp mountain
• a circuit comprising 20 games, in which points can be earned for use
  in the auction and the stamp shop
• a stamp swap shop
• a computer corner featuring games and a brief taste of the interactive
  stamp information services to come
• a postage stamp design competition offering great prizes
• making your own stamp album pages
• assistance in finding stamps for your collection
• a slideshow
• and much, much more…

More information on: www.jeugdfilatelie.nl en www.nvph.nl or mail to H. Overgoor on jeugd@stamppassion.nl.