Winter aid Switzerland

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The Swiss Winter Aid Foundation is a ZEWO -recognized Swiss domestic aid organization .

In 1936 under the sign of the then prevailing unemployment and gloomy future prospects, the “Swiss Winter Aid for the Unemployed” - as it was called at the time - was brought into being by well-known personalities from politics and business. It should support those in need due to a lack of work or income opportunities and help them to better survive the harsh winter.

official logo of Winter Aid Switzerland

Tasks and structure

Even today, Winterhilfe still sees its task as alleviating the effects of poverty in Switzerland. The aid organization is organized in a decentralized manner: around 350 helpers, some of whom are volunteers, in 27 cantonal organizations work together with specialist social agencies to ensure rapid and targeted help. They are supported in their work by the central secretariat of Winter Aid Switzerland, which is also responsible for nationwide aid operations.

Support activity

The amount of aid is around CHF 5 million per year. With almost 8,000 assistance annually, Winterhilfe actively supports around 14,000 people (including 7,000 children) who got into need through no fault of their own. Projects and institutions also receive contributions.

Children's aid 1947

In addition, the winter aid supports victims of natural disasters through targeted aid campaigns. B. have got into an existential emergency due to avalanche or flood damage. If the financial situation allows, Winterhilfe also supports projects of non-profit organizations that meet the objectives of Winterhilfe. This involves projects and institutions such as day nurseries, mother and family centers, women's shelters, etc.

Winter aid intervenes where public aid cannot be claimed or is insufficient. It never takes on public sector tasks. The procedure and the requirements for receiving assistance are regulated in the guidelines for the support activities of winter aid.

Winterhilfe offers individuals and families seeking help selective support by means of;

  • Financial contributions and payment of urgent bills
  • Shopping vouchers for everyday goods and purchase cards for groceries
  • Benefits in kind such as beds, clothes, shoes, sewing machines
  • Mediation of Reka free holidays for families and single parents
  • Advice and information about further help options

Foundation and first years

The consequences of the global economic crisis reached their peak in Switzerland in the winter of 1935/36. Over 100,000 mostly strong, healthy people were unemployed. This economically dramatic situation for the working population prompted the federal government to expand the unemployment fund that was already in place at the time. However, the benefits of the fund were not regulated for the whole of Switzerland, but were handled regionally, in some cases even at the municipal level, with major differences. In order to be able to support all those in need who were either controlled or who did not receive unemployment benefits, the Federal Office for Industry, Commerce and Labor also set up crisis assistance.

Financial distress became particularly noticeable in the winter months, when additional expenses were incurred for heating material, sturdy shoes, winter clothing or expensive vegetables and fruit. For the people affected, it was actually a matter of survival: the risk of freezing to death or starving to death was great, as was the possibility of permanent damage from poor nutrition. At the federal government,

In the thirties and forties, Winterhilfe founded and supported soup kitchens everywhere, in which those in need received a balanced diet.

The cantons and welfare agencies agreed that a “comprehensive action to support the victims of the economic crisis” was urgently needed. Well-known personalities from business, industry and politics founded the “Swiss Winter Aid for the Unemployed”; With the exception of French-speaking regions, all regions took part in their first collection. As an unprecedented sign of solidarity among the population, it resulted in a great result of around 1.1 million Swiss francs for the circumstances at the time. This enabled many families in need, and especially older single people, to be helped over the winter.

After the outbreak of World War II, the collection was carried out jointly with the Swiss War Welfare Organization under the name "War Winter Aid". This collection, which took place in all cantons for the first time, brought a record result of CHF 3.1 million in 1941 - today's collection results are roughly the same.

Winterhilfe has been selling Birnel since 1952 .

Examples of early practical help

The annual salary of many families with five or more children between 1936 and 1945 was between 1,500 and 2,000 francs. Some of them lived with remarkable modesty and thrift in the most meager circumstances, if only they were spared going to support the poor (today's social welfare office); this step into arrogance was in their eyes the hardest and most humiliating. If the father's earnings failed and there were no reserves, the winter aid provided support: heating material (coal, wood and oil) were a big item, as were winter clothes and boots. Since the urban population in particular suffered from the additional troubles of winter during this time, specially printed vouchers entitle them to purchase bread, milk, potatoes, fruit, salt, sugar, cooking oil, fuel and textiles.

In the canton of Schwyz, winter aid enabled unemployed family fathers to purchase seed potatoes under the same conditions as mountain farmers with the support of the federal government and the canton. Winterhilfe in Basel distributed over a million kilograms of potatoes and 400,000 kilograms of fruit and dried vegetables every year. Around 21,000 people benefited from this campaign, a good twelve percent of the canton's population. In addition, expectant and nursing mothers received free Ovaltine and sardines to compensate for the mineral and fat deficiency. They were also given sheets and diapers. In the Jura, for example, milk and soup kitchens received significant contributions. Since milk delivery was not always feasible due to the rationing, vitamin tablets were already distributed back then to prevent deficiency symptoms, mainly in children. During the war, the Federal War Welfare Office organized so-called folk cloth campaigns: Various materials for men's and boys' trousers, shirts, sheets, overcoats and blankets were distributed to the poor population for free or at a very low price. First and foremost, the winter aid always helped with natural produce , where necessary, financial contributions were also made, for example for renting an apartment, glasses or retraining courses.

The importance of winter aid clothing rooms

In 1937, the foundation set up the first clothing store in Zurich: within the first year, a total of 44,396 items of clothing were given to 8,230 people. Over the years, in most cantons, the clothing stores have become a permanent institution of winter aid, as have their traditional clothing collections. Sewing and mending was also carried out in the clothes rooms, and sewing courses were held. So-called patch and sturgeon cutters were available to the small farmers in the Bernese Oberland for a maximum of ten days. They changed the items of laundry and clothing that came mostly from the lowlands to meet the needs of the rural population and generally helped with mending and making work clothes. In continuation of this tradition, the clothing store in Basel held sewing evenings until 1999, during which mothers could change and renew their clothes. When the manager of the Basel clothing store retired, this service had to be given up. The last clothes room in Zurich closed at the end of 2000.

Winter aid clothing room in the 1970s.

The tasks of winter aid today

Winterhilfe was founded in 1936 to ensure the survival of less well-off people in gloomy times, but the task of the relief organization has shifted over the decades. Today it is seldom a matter of bare survival; the citizen is protected against the risks of work, old age and illness through compulsory insurance. However, there is still a large population group that has to live below or just below the poverty and subsistence line. The new economic crisis looming at the end of the last century with its persistent negative effects has contributed to the fact that the number of people who have to live in households with insufficient income and in precarious conditions rose to over 500,000, of which around 230,000 Children (figures taken from the “ Working Poor in Switzerland” survey by the Federal Statistical Office ). These people cannot meet basic needs and are largely excluded from social life. These population groups are now the main focus of winter aid.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Guidelines for the support activities of winter aid ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Guidelines for the support activities of winter aid (PDF 47 kB)
  2. ↑ Birnel: Good but no sugar substitute. In: srf.ch . October 3, 2016, accessed February 13, 2019 .