For them, it was an opportunity to see things from a totally different perspective, and this was exactly why this special day had been organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of North Rhine-Westphalia. Being placed in a situation in which they were confronted with the bigger picture - this was an unfamiliar experience for most of them.
One of the sponsors of Social Day, Mayor Frank Baranowski, was there to welcome all the trainees and participating companies in the morning in the Hans-Sachs Centre: "It is a remarkable reversal when trainees in the commercial sector spend a day working for social services. I think it is really important that young people should have the chance to see how other people live."
On the day, the trainees from five Gelsenkirchen-based businesses provided active assistance to ten social support organisations distributed across the city. They worked at grinding and sanding, painting, fixing things in place, reading to others and helping people go shopping. In other words, they had time on this day to do things which would otherwise have had to be given short shrift.
Vice-president of North Rhine-Westphalia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry Lars Baumgürtel was pleased that Social Day had again been organised for the second time since 2016 in Gelsenkirchen and pointed out that businesses have a special duty in this regard as they too are "part of society to which trainees can also contribute and not just on this particular day."
Everyone involved was subsequently convinced that it would be good idea to organise another Social Day in Gelsenkirchen.