The Sol og Strand Foundation, Sol og Strand Margit and Kjeld – the principal owners of Sol og Strand A/S – will make its second distribution of one million kroner to 10 humanitarian projects in December 2021. The many Danish and foreign holidaymakers, homeowners, and employees of Sol og Strand in the process over the coming months. This coincides with the publication of the memoirs of Sol og Strand's founders, Margit and Kjeld Andersen.

Completely new and different ideas are being considered before the Sol og Strand Foundation, Sol og Strand Margit and Kjeld, makes its second million-dollar donation to humanitarian causes from the foundation in December 2021.

The fund is the main owner of Sol og Strand A/S, and both Sol og Strand's Danish and foreign holiday guests in 2021, owners of privately owned summer houses rented out through Sol og Strand, and the company's employees will be asked which areas they would like the fund to consider for support. This will be done through opinion polls conducted in September, which, combined with the fund's board's own ideas and assessments, will provide valuable inspiration when the applications for support are processed.

 

BOTH DANISH AND FOREIGN PURPOSES CAN BE SUPPORTED

Just as in 2020, when the Sol og Strand Foundation Sol og Strand Margit and Kjeld first distributed one million kroner, this year's support will be divided among 10 projects with humanitarian purposes.

And when both Danish and foreign holidaymakers are asked, the fund also opens up the possibility that future support may also be granted to both Danish and foreign organizations and projects.

"HOLIDAYS WITH A GOOD HEART" – PROFITS GO TO LOCAL AND CHARITABLE CAUSES, NOT PRIVATE EQUITY FUNDS

Jens Stadum, chairman of the Sol og Strand Foundation Sol og Strand Margit and Kjeld:

– The fund's board of directors wants these statements to encourage vacationers, homeowners, and employees can provide inspiration for how a significant portion of the distributed profits in Sol og Strand A/S should be allocated from 2023 onwards – and we are already starting to collect statements for the upcoming distribution in December 2021.

It is unique in the market that the vast majority of Sol og Strand's distributed profits do not go to foreign capital funds or money tanks in the long term, but to good causes that holidaymakers, homeowners, and employees of Sol og Strand the opportunity to influence, says Chairman of the Board Jens Stadum.

"You simply get the opportunity to do something good for others when you take a vacation through Sol og Strand, rent out your summer house through Sol og Strand work at Sol og Strand. That's what we call 'vacation with a good heart,'" says the chairman of the board.

 

VALUES AS A GUIDING STAR

Per Dam, CEO of Sol og Strand A/S, states:

Both Sol og Strand the fund that now owns us are built on strong values of making a difference – both in the many local communities throughout Denmark that Sol og Strand part of, but also in relation to many charitable and humanitarian causes around the world. And those values will shape us and our entire operation – and the mark we leave on the world, says CEO Per Dam.

"Through the fund's distributions, we will be able to help many local projects and humanitarian organizations for many years to come, all of which will make a difference for many people. This is a major value-based guiding principle for all of us who work at Sol og Strand," says Per Dam.

 

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION: SOL OG STRAND HAD A UNIQUE IMPACT ON DANISH HOLIDAY TOURISM

Director of the Holiday Home Rental Association, Carlos Villaro Lassen:

– Sol og Strand played an invaluable role in the development of holiday home rentals in Denmark, which has grown to become one of Europe's major tourist industries with over 20 million overnight stays annually.

– Holiday home rentals have gone from being a niche market 40 years ago to being a key part of the economy and job market in many municipalities in Denmark, and Sol og Strand played a significant role in this development. It is remarkable that Denmark today has a fund-owned rental agency of the highest caliber. Margit and Kjeld Andersen have made a unique mark on Danish holiday tourism through the highest standards and service and have helped to create an industry with an annual turnover of more than DKK 20 billion, driven by private Danes renting out their summer houses.

The entire industry recognizes the tremendous efforts made by Margit and Kjeld Andersen and the results they have achieved. Not least during the coronavirus crisis, Sol og Strand has Sol og Strand to keep things running, adapt to Danish overnight stays, help Germans affected by border closures, contribute to the reopening of borders, and ensure clear communication and value retention for homeowners. It is a unique effort, and it will be exciting to read Margit and Kjeld Andersen's memoirs.

 

HUMANITARIAN PURPOSES – ENTIRELY IN THE SPIRIT OF MARGIT AND KJELD ANDERSEN

Since its establishment in 2019, the Sol og Strand Foundation, Sol og Strand Margit and Kjeld, has announced that it wishes to support local and humanitarian causes.

And, as is evident from the memoirs recently published by the founders of Sol og Strand, Margit and Kjeld Andersen, this is entirely in keeping with their spirit.

The first distribution from the fund took place in December 2020, when 10 humanitarian associations were selected with a special focus on the dreams of the founders, Margit and Kjeld Andersen, when they transferred ownership of Sol og Strand A/S to the fund in 2019. The ten selected organizations each received DKK 100,000 in December 2020.

 

MEMORIES – FROM SUMMER HOUSE PLOT TO ANNUAL TURNOVER OF 600 MILLION.

The founders, Margit and Kjeld Andersen, are simultaneously publishing their memoirs. In their memoirs, the couple not only describe how they created Sol og Strand on a summer cottage plot in Lyngså in North Jutland, but also the enormous growth that has led Sol og Strand an annual turnover of DKK 600 million.

Margit and Kjeld Andersen also explain why and how they decided to establish the Sol og Strand Foundation Sol og Strand Margit and Kjeld, which ensures that a significant portion of the profits from holiday home rentals both enable the continued development of Sol og Strand A/S and, in particular, provide support for the work of charitable organizations.

Furthermore, the couple's memoirs reveal that Margit and Kjeld Andersen have visited no fewer than 106 countries across the globe – and thus experienced the world to a great extent.

 

FOUNDERS: GRATEFUL FOR OPPORTUNITIES – AND THE FOUNDATION'S DISTRIBUTIONS

Margit and Kjeld Andersen, founders of Sol og Strand A/S and Sol og Strand Foundation Sol og Strand say:

We are grateful for the life we were able to create for ourselves. We have seen and experienced the world while also having the opportunity to build a business, the ownership of which has now been transferred to a foundation that supports charitable causes. In this way, Sol og Strand, which we have always referred to as our "third child," can live on and make a difference for others. We are therefore delighted that the foundation can once again distribute funds to good causes and look forward to the future development of both Sol og Strand the foundation, which will carry on our life's work and dreams.

 

The fund is open for applications in September.

The Sol og Strand Foundation Sol og Strand Margit and Kjeld is accepting applications from September 1 to 30. Vacationers, homeowners, and employees of Sol og Strand invited to participate in the opinion polls during the same period.

The fund's board then processes the applications, drawing inspiration from the opinion polls and combining this with their own ideas and assessments, before the final distribution from the fund takes place in December.

 

FACT: SEE THE MEMORIES SOL OG STRAND HERE: See it here

FACTS: THE HISTORY OF SOL OG STRAND (SHORT VERSION FROM THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2019): See it here