Working is of fundamental importance even for someone with a specific care requirement. It gives inner strength and self-confidence for personal development.

At the Maartenhuis the right workplace is carefully sought for everyone. Account is taken of the biographical record of the person concerned and, of course, his or her own wishes.

With people like this it is often in fact the soul, the physically invisible dominion of the emotions, which requires extra care.

At the Maartenhuis care and therapy are available in many fields.

There are also opportunities for swimming and horse-riding and there are artistic activities, such as painting and music.

The Maartenhuis is immediately behind the dunes, about 500 m from the sea. By nature the surrounding countryside is a humid dune landscape. The soil is sandy and past bulb growing makes it dry, particularly in the summer. The cows and sheep of our farm provide this poor soil with plenty of manure for the vegetables to grow in the garden.

Participants in this work area work on various aspects. Some more involved with the cows and chickens, others with processing the valuable manure and the vegetable harvest.

A number of people are also active in maintaining the grounds. Much attention is paid to the surroundings of the Maartenhuis.

Thousands of trees have been planted, for instance, designed to provide shelter from the persistent wind.

In the winter period there is a need for extra indoor activity. This takes place in the candle factory.

As well as beeswax candles, paraffin candles in all kinds of colours are extracted, poured and marbled.

Weaving is one of the other activities offered by the Maartenhuis. Colourful lengths of cloth are woven for items of clothing, and bath mats, tablecloths and carpets are also made with great care. The process from sheep’s wool to the woven product is easily discernable to those participating in this activity.

Other kinds of textile work, apart from weaving, are carried out in this workshop, such as spinning, carding, wool and cotton dyeing and silk painting. Beautiful shawls are painted, which, like the other products, are sold at markets or in our own small shop.

The Maartenhuis has a wood workshop with modern equipment. Various kinds of wood are used, dried and further processed under our own management, with the aim of bringing alive the different qualities of wood.

The idea is to give an understanding of the process from plank to end product.

In our bakery - which bakes only in the morning - not only is fresh bread baked daily, but biscuits, cake, rolls and currant bread are also baked regularly. These products, carefully kneaded and shaped by hand, have no difficulty in finding buyers.

A new working area has been opened as part of Care Modernisation: the working classroom with educational training as its basis.

Here students are taught not only social skills, but also "how to make a newspaper", "how to manage money" and there are drama activities.

Our products from the textile workshop, candle factory and woodwork shop and those of other anthroposophical institutions, from a pottery, for instance, are sold in the Maartenhuis shop.