Malerhaugen vel

Malerhaugen vel is an organisation working for better environments in the local area of Malerhaugen in the City of Oslo, Norway. The organisation is working on a non profit basis, and on voluntarily membership. Our main aims are to increase the physical and social standards in our environment. We are working according the "National Agenda 21" (LA21) and on the agenda's principles concerning the importance of local activities. We believe in empowerment and consequently, we four times a year publish a newspaper which aim to create identity among people to the area. In short: We believe that if you love your home, you will take better care.

Malerhaugen vel was founded in 1945, just after the Second World War. As now, the main purposes for the organisation was to build security and friendship in our area of the city of Oslo.

Frequently, we are corresponding with the city councils and we often make suggestions concerning our issues of focus: The burden of heavy traffic and parking in the area. We take care of the playgrounds and we initiate activities for children. We collaborate closely with the nearby home for the older part of our population.

Malerhaugen is a small, originally suburban area just outside the inner, city centre of Oslo, Norway. We are about 1500 inhabitants; just enough for a head and the board of the organisation to know about most of the people who live here and to be in dialogue and listen to peoples needs and wishes.

Most people live in brick houses with between four to fifty apartments. Most houses have a small garden to share. There are three main roads surrounding the area, all of them leading to the city centre. Each day there are about 130 000 cars on these roads. This makes the area exposed to pollution, noise and danger for children on their way to school.

How are we working?

Malerhaugen vel, our organisation, has a board, elected each year among people who are paying members. We all volunteer and want to work for area. We have contacts in the both the local and the central political system in the city. In all our work, collaboration is a key word.

Once a year we organise "Rusken", a cleaning day where we pick up garbage along the roads, cut the lawn in the playground, build new toys for the children, and so on. A month after the cleaning day, we invite everybody to the playground for a social gathering. We collaborate with the local city council's courses to teach Norwegian to immigrants in the area, and they make food specialities from their different home countries. This little come-together is quite a popular event of the year. It all starts with a walk around in the area. We are giving information about the Malerhaugen area, specially pointing out historically interesting buildings and places.

Once a year, the first Sunday of December, we light the Christmas tree at the playground. We have a band playing traditional Christmas songs, we all sing and walk around the Christmas tree. Santa Claus arrives as the band plays "Jingle Bells". The children's eyes are full of expectation and a little worry as they study the "Julenisse", or the Santa Claus approaching in the dark. Of course, Santa Claus always brings small presents for the children.
Four time a year we publish a magazine: Malerhaugposten. It is not bringing the news, but tries to give information about what's happening in the area, decisions made in the City Hall, affecting our area and so on. We also write about issues of historical interest and about people's daily life today.

Economy

The economy of our organisation is based on income from members and the renting-out of our meeting-rooms in Fyrstikkalléen 2B. Our localities consist of 160 square meters, three rooms, kitchen and toilets. We use these localities for our meetings and we rent them out for parties and formal meetings. The local city-council, bydel Sinsen Helsfyr, organise some of their courses in Norwegian for immigrants in our localities. This agreement between our organisation and the local city government, is a very positive thing to our local community and in a very meaningful way, the tax-payers money return to the taxpayers through the rent that the local government pays to our organisation. This is why we can afford publishing the written material we send to our members four times a year. The membership in Malerhaugen vel will cost a little more than 10 Euro a year.

If you want more information, you are welcome to contact Malerhaugen vel on Email.

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