“If you want to be ‘in fashion,’ this is a great social internship placement”

In Modestraat, you can drop off clothes and receive a reward in the form of points, which you can then use to shop in Modestraat. This year, they offered high school students from ABC Noorderlicht the opportunity to do a social internship. “You need to be a bit assertive here.”Mirjam: “Seven years ago when my job ended, I came here to ask if there was any volunteer work available. I started with just one day, but now I work here three and a half days a week. I really enjoy it here. People can come and drop off up to ten pairs of shoes, scarves, pants, jackets, etc. Depending on the condition of the clothing item, you receive a certain number of points. We once received a beautiful jacket from a very expensive brand, and that lady received 50 points. You can then use those points to shop in our Fashion Street. The points required for each item in the exchange store are indicated on the clothes.”

Gaining experience with clothing and with people

This year, fourteen students between the ages of 13 and 15 did their social internship with us. Both boys and girls. Some of them said they want to work ‘in fashion’ in the future. So, this is obviously an excellent place to gain experience with clothing and people.”

What do you do with difficult people?

“They had plenty of variety here. Around 20 to 40 people come here per day. Especially a lot of people with small children. Of course, those children quickly outgrow their clothes. That’s when the Modestraat is very convenient to exchange your clothes for larger sizes. Sometimes there are people who don’t speak Dutch well. Then you have to communicate with gestures. There are also difficult people sometimes, who want more points for their clothes or think their points are worth millions. Then you have to be a bit assertive. Sometimes there are also poor people who can’t bring in clothes. Still, they are allowed to take some clothes for free. You really learn how to deal with people here.”

“You won’t get there this way”

Her experiences with the social interns are generally very good: “Some young people really rolled up their sleeves and started folding clothes or hanging clothes on hangers in the store on their own. But others were on their phone during work and that is of course not acceptable. We did say something about that attitude. That’s not how you make progress, of course. The majority of the students enjoyed doing their social internship at the Modestraat. Some stayed for thirteen weeks. It was a win-win situation for both sides.”

Do you as an organization also want to offer a social internship?

Contact Wendy Post at: 06-11283285 orw.post@vca.nu

Interview: Thecla Groot Koerkamp
Photos: Kitty de Jong