This summer, the internationally acclaimed, state-sponsored Erzsébet Programme enabled 55,000 children to have a summer holiday in vacation camps, Minister of State for Social and Family Affairs Katalin Novák said at a press conference on Thursday in Balatonberény, at one of the summer camps in participating in the Programme.

The Minister of State evaluated the Erzsébet camps, which closed for the summer on Friday, during a training session for children held by Olympic fencing champion Tímea Nagy.

Ms. Novák said this year the initiative had included more than 1,000 disabled children from both Hungary and neighbouring countries, noting that many famous celebrities and sports stars had volunteered to add to the children’s summer experiences.

The Programme was run through the Hungarian National Recreation Foundation and helped pay for the summer camps of 14,000 children in 2012, 50,000 in 2013 and 55,000 this year in the camps in Balatonberény, Zánka and Fonyódliget on the shores of Lake Balaton. Most of the children included in the Programme were from disadvantaged families.

Secretary General of the Hungarian National Recreation Foundation László Majthényi said at the press conference that children from Hungarian minorities in neighbouring countries have been increasingly included in the program and several camps had been organised in Transylvania.

(Ministry of Human Capacities)