Presenting the "Feel at Home" Shirt!
We are proud to present the Ter Apel Spirit "Feel at Home"-shirt, a special collaboration with young artist Alf Bärbel Wit Peters, inspired by the spirit of unaccompanied minors at the Ter Apel reception centre in the Netherlands.
In Ter Apel, KLABU has been operating a clubhouse since 2022, which hosts sports activities for unaccompanied minors who are seeking asylum in the Netherlands.
As the first point of entry in the country for newcomers, it is a place of new beginnings, where connections can be built and where people can start their new life in their new home. By playing sports together at the clubhouse, young people find relief from isolation, build confidence, and create new friendships that show that home is not a fixed place, but something you create together.
Discover the Ter Apel Spirit
Alf led a creative workshop with the kids in Ter Apel
Alf proudly shows off the paintings and patterns created during the workshop
Last year, the clubhouse in Ter Apel hosted Alf, a young talented artist from Amsterdam, eager to work with the children in the reception centre on unique artworks that represent the Ter Apel Spirit.
As the only available social space for unaccompanied minors in Ter Apel, the clubhouse is always filled with energy, life and spirit. To capture this, Alf met with a group of unaccompanied minors, all regulars of the clubhouse, and led a creative workshop to paint, draw, and share stories together, using the paintbrushes and balls, to overcome language barriers.
From their conversations, playing football together and his own reflections of the meeting, Alf created a piece of art.
The Ter Apel Spirit shirt is a celebration of creativity and connection, in which art and sport meet to support the resilience of children who continue to play, regardless of the circumstances.
In front of a blank canvas and inspired by the drawings of the clubhouse members, Alf chose green as his starting point. At school, he learned that it is a symbol of peace, renewal, and the courage to begin again. From that one colour, he drew a rhythm of lines, colours and layers: a visual metaphor for resilience, for the strength it takes to keep moving forward, even when facing many uncertainties.
"The shirt stands for connection and for the idea that from every line, something new can grow."
Each shirt sold helps build KLABU clubhouses: places where children can play, dream, and simply be kids again.
