My name is Skye, and I am in year 9 at St George’s International School of Luxembourg. As a part of my Mérite Jeunesse experience, I decided to volunteer at Alzheimer Europe. This helped me gain multiple new skills, like working in an office, filing systems, creating an inventory and writing this newsletter article. If you don’t know what the "Mérite Jeunesse" is (also known as the Duke of Edinburgh Award), it is a programme that encourages young people like me to challenge themselves by doing things such as volunteering, learning new skills, getting healthy and taking on adventurous hikes. It is a great way to push yourself and make a difference for yourself and others at the same time. For the volunteering part of my Mérite Jeunesse bronze award I got the chance to work with an amazing organisation that works to support people with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
My main tasks were checking the names of all the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the email contact lists and identifying any mistakes, checking that the photos of the European Alzheimer’s Alliance of MEPs on the Alzheimer Europe website were up to date, and organising and cataloguing the publications in the archive room. It might not sound super exciting, but it was an interesting experience and knowing that I was helping by making sure things around the office and online were organised was important to me, plus, knowing that even small tasks like these could help Alzheimer Europe out made me feel good about myself. It was also such a pleasure to get the chance to meet the members of the European Working Group of People with Dementia when they were in Luxembourg. They are such nice people and it was a really nice experience.
Thank you! Alzheimer Europe does a lot of important work, like raising awareness, supporting research, and pushing for better policies to help people with dementia and their families. They work with politicians, scientists and national Alzheimer’s groups to make a real difference across the whole of our continent. Overall, this experience was really rewarding. I got to contribute to an important cause, learn new skills and see how a big organisation operates. it also showed me how even the smallest efforts can help make a difference. I am really glad I chose this for part of my Mérite Jeunesse journey, and I hope to keep helping out in different ways like this in the future! Find out more about the Mérite Jeunesse: https://merite.jeunesse.lu/en/
Pictured: Skye (in the middle) with members of the European Working Group of People with Dementia, supporters and researchers, at the group's meeting in Luxembourg on 25 March 2025