Three thousand children living in disadvantaged sub-regions will participate in Erzsébet Day Camps this year, Government Spokesperson Éva Kurucz announced on Tuesday.

The Camps have been organised within the framework of the Erzsébet Programme, a social programme aimed at giving the socially disadvantaged the opportunity to go on cheap, state-subsidised holidays.

Ms. Kurucz called the “fair and supportive” Camps, at which children in need can participate in meaningful leisure activities, a milestone in the renewal of Hungary.

DownloadPhoto: Gergely Botár

According to the Spokesperson, an Erzsébet Day Camp organised last year in the Berettyóújfalu sub-region (North Hungary) was so successful that this year, 27 schools from six districts will take part in the Programme.

Participating in the camps is not compulsory, but the one-hundred percent attendance proves its success, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hungarian National Foundation for Recreation Zoltán Guller said, adding that the Programme will continue and organisers wish to further increase the number of participants.

DownloadPhoto: Gergely Botár

He also pointed out that hundreds of thousands of people, including more than 180 thousand children, have been provided with vacation opportunities since the Erzsébet Programme was launched in 2012, and the Programme will welcome its 400,000th participant this year.

(Prime Minister's Office)