Socks will be well sorted

What can you do if you are too old, too unhealthy or unfit for the labour market? For people with a recognised disability, there are sheltered workshops, for others who do not tick the right boxes, the Stëmm vun der Strooss offers reintegration activities for their beneficiaries. The aim is to keep a foot in the working world, without pressure or stress.

The activity of the Stëmm is divided into several categories. The association collects clothes through campaigns set up all over the country: big brands or schools, supermarkets, or even stocks of clothes shops that close are collected by the Stëmm. It is in Hollerich that the beneficiaries can come, a "shop" where they can get clothes for free. In Esch, the Schweessdrëps workshop is commissioned by the football teams in the south of the country to wash and sort the players' equipment. Every day, heaps of suitcases, bags and baskets of clothes arrive to be washed and folded.

The work has to be done

Marc Balthasar is the head of the Schweessdrëps workshop in Esch. This long-haired educator is rather relaxed. Even if the work has to be done, the workshop is not there to have a productivity worthy of a private company. So they make do with the means at hand, especially during the Covid period, when they had to reduce the number of teams and ensure that the protective measures were in place. "At the beginning of the lockdown, we sent everyone home, and we worked in shifts between the teams in Hollerich and Esch, because it was essential to keep the kitchens open. The work was thus distributed between several sites, with smaller teams. The Esch workshop started up again last September, with the resumption of the championship", explains Marc. Sports clubs are indeed big "clients" of Stëmm, which undertakes, for a modest price, to wash, dry and fold the players' outfits, from jersey to socks.