The director of the ADHD Association was delighted and extremely grateful when she learned that the Margit and Sol og Strand Foundation was donating DKK 151,675 to the association's work.

"This donation means that we can realize our project of holding 100 presentations with personal stories about ADHD at educational institutions, workplaces, schools, etc.," says Director Camilla Louise Ganzhorn.

Although there is now a great deal of medical knowledge about ADHD, there is a great need to provide information about what it is like in practice to live with the diagnosis. That is why the ADHD Association has launched a project in which a group of volunteers talk about their lives with ADHD.

"We currently have a storytelling corps of 34 volunteers who have been trained to give presentations. Our goal is to train an additional 15 volunteers for the corps," says Camilla Louise Ganzhorn.

– We are experiencing very high demand both in terms of becoming part of the volunteer storytelling corps and in terms of getting the stories out to after-school programs, workplaces, and educational institutions, among others.

The ADHD Association was established in 1982 and works to ensure that it is the person, not the diagnosis, that determines choices, direction, and opportunities in life. In this regard, stories are important because they help people understand that ADHD differs from person to person.

"Our hope is that we can spark optimism when people realize that there are ways to take action, even if they have ADHD," says Camilla Louise Ganzhorn.

– We hope that our storytellers can inspire others who have ADHD or are relatives of someone with the diagnosis. They can talk about how they experience the diagnosis, where it hurts, and where it becomes difficult.

The director also hopes that the stories will help create more tolerance in the outside world, because they provide a better understanding of the challenges, but also the strengths, that a person with ADHD possesses.

There are high expectations for how people should act and how workplaces should be designed. My hope is that these stories can help challenge the way workplaces and educational institutions are designed, so that we can ensure a framework and conditions in which people with ADHD can also thrive, says Camilla Louise Ganzhorn.

Important efforts

In 1979, Margit and Kjeld Andersen established Sol og Strand A/S. The couple has now transferred ownership to a foundation based on a desire to preserve and develop the company in Danish hands and to support charitable and local causes.

We are delighted to be able to support an association such as ADHD. We know that many children with this diagnosis find it difficult to complete primary school with an exam that gives them access to secondary education. It is therefore important that we create understanding and insight into how we can provide children with the best possible framework for learning, say Margit and Kjeld Andersen.

In total, the fund will have donated just under DKK 3 million by 2023, and this amount is expected to increase in the future.