ANWB MARKS 125th anniversary

Publication date: 20 January 2008

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Royal Dutch Touring Club (ANWB). It is an event that the club intends celebrate, but also use to its advantage to stop reflect and then look forward to the challenges awaiting it with renewed vigour.

One thing that has remained constant in its 125 years is the positioning of the ANWB as an active and social organisation. The ANWB still strives for everyone to travel, relax or enjoy a holiday with a feeling of security and the anniversary year offers the perfect opportunity to highlight all of the activities that have helped to make the ANWB what it is today.

In order to focus attention on the celebration, all anniversary activities are represented in a logo, which shows at a glance what the ANWB stands for. The point of departure is the bicycle wheel, a powerful symbol of mobility. The wheel is spinning and the movement symbolizes progress.

The ANWB fills the gaps left by the government and the commercial sector in the areas of transport, recreation and tourism.

The solutions it offers are often adopted by other parties, allowing the ANWB to look at new challenges or to create new solutions for old problems. Together with its 'think tank' formed by the members of the ANWB General Assembly, the club has selected the most important themes for its anniversary year.

In 2008 the club will focus on traffic safety for children, the quality of life in local surroundings and the accessibility of the road network in connection with responsible mobility in the Netherlands, together with the members and aimed at sustainability.

Traffic safety for children dates back to 1924 when the ANWB introduced traffic lessons in schools. Parents of young children are concerned not only with the behaviour of other road users but also about how their own children behave in traffic, and both parents and children will play a role in pointing out the dangerous traffic situations in their neighbourhoods and together with active ANWB members and volunteers; the ANWB will try to improve these situations. The project Kind Verkeersveilig (Child Traffic Safety) will support the theme at school with new educational material together with a Donald Duck weekly magazine. There will also be a special children's edition of the Kampioen devoted to this theme.

The second theme can be traced back to a campaign carried out in the 1920s and aimed at encouraging the Dutch public not to leave litter behind in parks and woodlands. In 2008 the ANWB will again try to encourage people to enjoy their immediate surroundings.

People will be encouraged use anwb.nl to give tips to others about attractive spots in their neighbourhood. Everyone will be invited to go on a picnic on 25 May, the Day of the Park, or to go walking or biking. The ANWB hopes that together with its members, it will ensure that parks and the natural surroundings of residential areas stay attractive by cleaning up the litter there.

To further help with tourism, the ANWB is going to offer the Netherlands a gift by placing signs along the roads that point to scenic or cultural highlights in the area.

The ANWB has worked on mobility since it was founded. Its efforts surpassed just bicycle paths since, in the 1920s, it also laid the basis for the national road network. In the 1980s, the ANWB, together with the Dutch Railway and the Ministry of Transport, introduced the P+R plan in order to bring the use of the car and the train closer together.

Most places in the Netherlands are now accessible for everyone. Nevertheless, congestion is a major problem. The problems of traffic queues is a complex one that, in keeping with tradition, the ANWB hope to help to solve. This is possible if and more intelligent approach to mobility is taken. The ANWB believes in the motto places its members under the motto 'We make traffic queues together and together we can solve them'. By organizing a queuefree day in October, the ANWB hopes to initiate a new and broad social movement.

In everything the ANWB does, good communication with its members is essential. In 2008 there will be a digital version of the Kampioen, making it possible to look up articles dating as far back as 1883.

Other forms of communication include :
• a special anniversary site on anwb.nl;
• an anniversary lottery in which you can win attractive prizes while contributing to a good cause;
• a film showing what the ANWB stood and still stands for;
• an anniversary stamp;
• a special float in the floral pageant in the area around the tulip fields;
• a multimedia exhibit in the Rotunda of the ANWB's main building.

For the cycling members of all our sister clubs, the ANWB together with the cycling club Champion and the municipality of the historic city of Edam will organize the AIT Cycling Rally between 11 and 20 July.

Festivities for international contacts, including guests from FIA, will be held in the Kurhaus hotel in Scheveningen. The Hague, and will start on Wednesday 17 September 2008. The programme includes a symposium on sustainable mobility as well as a gala on Friday evening. On Saturday 20 September, the festivities will close with a visit to various tourist attractions.