A miracle on wheels, made possible by people

Corona throws a spanner in the works again

Unfortunately corona returned and the entire Whitsun event had to be cancelled. Months of preparation vanished in one blow.

When the rules were eased a little in August, we decided to organise an adapted ride after all. Despite the strict conditions, 327 participants took part and together we fulfilled no fewer than 126 wishes.

Casper's final ride

One of the most moving moments was the final ride of Casper Meurs from Apeldoorn. Casper had ridden with us as a sidecar rider for years, but had by then become terminally ill. This time he rode along in a WishAmbulance, surrounded by hundreds of motorcycles, trikes, sidecars and nine other ambulances.

It was emotional to have him with us on our ride one more time. For years he had devoted himself to others; now this special ride was for him.

Silence and applause

At the Grote Kerk in Haaksbergen the procession came to a halt. After words from Reverend Job Stein, a minute of silence followed for everyone who had passed away or was still fighting. Then a thundering applause rang out for the healthcare workers who had worked tirelessly during the corona period.

It was an impressive and unforgettable moment.

Saying goodbye once again

Due to the economic consequences of corona, VV Haaksbergen had to end the collaboration. With that we lost our location once again and the search for a new place began all over.

Whitsun Saturday - celebration and togetherness

On Saturday the grounds buzzed with a fair of 70 stalls, live performances, bouncy castles, face painting and balloon clowns. For children from families with limited financial means there was a free funfair. Their beaming faces showed exactly why we organise this event.

The day closed with the Trike and Sidecar Motor-Run, during which people with a disability experienced an unforgettable ride.

Whitsun Sunday - the big ride

On Sunday 5 June Rijden voor Geluk took place. In total 329 participants took part on motorcycles, trikes and sidecar motorcycles. Ten WishAmbulances also rode along. Together we fulfilled no fewer than 112 wishes during a route of about 65 kilometres through Twente and the Achterhoek.

Before the start we held a minute of silence for everyone we had lost over the past years. Then the impressive procession set off.

Leonie's special ride

One of the participants was 44-year-old Leonie Mengerink from Neede. Due to Usher syndrome she is slowly going blind and deaf. Her wish was to experience the wind, the freedom and the landscape from a trike one more time.

Leonie rode along on Pieter Moors' yellow trike and visibly enjoyed every kilometre.

"I could sit down and give up, but that makes no one happy," she said.

Her special ride once again showed how much difference one unforgettable experience can make.

An unexpected wish

A day before the ride, a place unexpectedly became available in a WishAmbulance from Rotterdam. This allowed Wil Holthuis from Enschede and her husband Willem to experience this special day together.

Due to her serious illness, Wil's world had become ever smaller. The ride was a wonderful surprise for both of them and a welcome break from the daily worries.

A day full of meaning

Along the route many people stood waving and applauding. For the patients and participants it was much more than just a ride: it was a day full of freedom, togetherness and precious memories.

RTV Oost also reported on the event. The footage showed what Rijden voor Geluk stands for: letting people with a serious illness or disability forget their worries for a while and giving them an unforgettable day.

Officially a foundation

In May 2023 Rijden voor Geluk officially became a foundation. This gave the loving initiative that Bonita and Willem Schippers had started in 2016 an official status. What once began from the wish to give others an unforgettable moment of happiness kept growing. The dream of one day acquiring our own WishAmbulance grew bigger by the day too.

Some moments stay with you forever. For us that was the final ride of Gerrie Kok, a man who meant a great deal to Rijden voor Geluk and to Haaksbergen.

Together with his wife Elly, Gerrie served for years as a traffic marshal. He was always ready to help, including on birthday rides and special tours. He clearly held Rijden voor Geluk dear.

When we heard that Gerrie was terminally ill and would not make it to Whitsun, we decided not to wait. We proposed to ride for him that very Sunday. Gerrie could no longer get on a motorcycle himself, but would ride along in a WishAmbulance.

The prospect of that ride visibly gave him new strength. Less than a week later, more than a hundred motorcycles, trikes, cars and trucks gathered at the Haaksbergsche Schutterij. Participants came from all over the Netherlands and even from Germany to pay Gerrie their final respects.

Along the route people stood waving and applauding. It was not an ordinary ride, but a loving and impressive farewell.

On Tuesday 2 April 2024, his 63rd birthday, Gerrie passed away. Although we knew this moment would come, his loss touched us deeply. His dedication, warmth and commitment we will never forget.

During the Whitsun weekend, on Sunday 19 May, 267 participants took part in our ride. Together we fulfilled no fewer than 138 wishes.

The Whitsun weekend of 2025 was set to be one of our biggest events ever. For months we had worked towards it with heart and soul. More than 300 participants from the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Germany and England had signed up. After a week of hard work, everything was ready: the fair, the funfair, the activities and of course our big ride.

But that very weekend the weather turned. Heavy rain and hail showers kept coming. On Saturday the fair, along with all its activities, literally fell into the water. On Sunday too the rain seemed unwilling to stop for a moment. It hurt to see how all the work and preparation were overshadowed by the bad weather.

Yet we would not be defeated.

Despite the persistent rain, 167 participants came to Haaksbergen on Sunday. Together they got on their motorcycle, trike or sidecar to do what we had all come for: giving people an unforgettable day. Thanks to their efforts, we were still able to fulfil 38 wishes that day.

Our new mayor, Gerard van den Hengel, addressed the participants before the start. He then rode at the front of the procession. His commitment and presence meant a lot to us.

Along the route, despite the bad weather, surprisingly many people stood. With umbrellas and raincoats they waved and applauded the participants and wish passengers. That sight touched us deeply. While the rain kept falling, you could feel warmth, connection and love everywhere.

The Whitsun weekend may have literally fallen into the water, but the strength of Rijden voor Geluk remained standing. Precisely on this difficult day, our participants, volunteers and spectators showed that happiness cannot be stopped by rain or hail. Together we once again brought light, warmth and unforgettable memories.

A dream that kept growing

Throughout 2025 we received more and more wish requests. With our trikes and sidecar motorcycles we were able to give people an unforgettable ride and a precious memory. Outside the Whitsun weekend, we fulfilled another 17 special wishes that year.

At the same time our biggest dream grew: our own WishAmbulance. With it we could also fulfil the wishes of people who can no longer ride along on a motorcycle, trike or sidecar.

Behind the scenes we were therefore fully occupied with the preparations. We searched for a suitable location from which to organise our wish rides and where our future WishAmbulance would have its own place. Step by step that special dream drew ever closer.

A place of our own for our dream

In July 2025 we were offered a location on the Schoolkaterdijk. With that a long-cherished dream drew a big step closer once again: the acquisition of our own WishAmbulance.

A permanent place not only gave us room to expand our activities further, but also gave us new hope and opportunities to fulfil even more special wishes in the future.

Our plans presented

On 1 December 2025 we proudly presented our plans for WishAmbulance Haaksbergen to Mayor Gerard van den Hengel and then-alderman Pieter van Zwanenburg. A special and meaningful moment in which our long-cherished dream almost became reality. The ambulance was not there yet, but the first big steps had been taken.

A team with their heart in the right place

A WishAmbulance can only exist thanks to dedicated people. That is why we had to put together a strong and reliable team of coordinators, healthcare professionals, ambulance drivers and volunteers for promotion.

After a call on Facebook, we received a particularly warm and loving email from Marcia Vorgers-Stolle. She applied for the role of coordinator of our WishAmbulance. Her arrival proved to be a golden move. Marcia brought along Christel Lankreijer, with whom she took on this important task together.

With enormous dedication and commitment, these two women built a wonderful volunteer team. This team now consists of more than fifty healthcare professionals, ambulance drivers and promotion volunteers.

They are all people with their heart in the right place. People who selflessly devote themselves to giving others an unforgettable day, exactly as we ourselves have done with love and conviction for almost ten years.

Our figures in 2025

• Whitsun weekend38 wishes
• Other wish rides17 wishes
• ZoZijn72 residents
• Philadelphia Enter24 residents

On Saturday 28 March 2026 the time had finally come: the festive opening of our new location on the Schoolkaterdijk. After years of dreaming, searching, persevering and preparing, Rijden voor Geluk and WishAmbulance Haaksbergen finally got a home of their own.

Volunteers, those involved and invited guests gathered to celebrate this special moment together with us. Mayor Gerard van den Hengel had the honour of cutting the ribbon in front of the door and thereby officially opening our location.

Everyone knew that this place was an important step towards our big dream: a WishAmbulance of our own. What almost no one knew was that this dream had by then already become reality.

The ambulance stood carefully hidden in the barn next to our location. Behind the scenes we had prepared everything in the utmost secrecy, so that the surprise would be kept until the very last moment.

Shortly after the mayor cut the ribbon, the Dweilorkest Dwarsbloazers St. Isidorushoeve suddenly came round the corner. The cheerful music immediately drew everyone's attention. Those present looked at each other in surprise and wondered what was about to happen.

Then the doors of the barn slowly opened.

With wailing siren and flashing lights, WishAmbulance Haaksbergen drove out. A dream we had spoken about for years suddenly stood before our eyes. The astonishment gave way to joy, disbelief and tears of emotion.

Out of the ambulance stepped Marcia Vorgers-Stolle and Christel Lankreijer, dressed in the beautiful uniforms of WishAmbulance Haaksbergen. They walked up to the mayor and shook his hand. At that moment everyone realised how special and meaningful this surprise truly was.

Even Mayor Gerard van den Hengel could not hold back his emotions. Visibly moved, he threw his arms around Bonita and let a tear fall. A moment that touched us all deeply and that we will never forget.

This WishAmbulance is much more to us than just a vehicle. It symbolises love, hope, freedom and humanity. Thanks to the ambulance we can now also offer wish rides to people who are terminally or chronically ill. We can also take along people who are temporarily immobile, for example due to an operation or a broken leg, to a place that means a great deal to them.

Perhaps that is one more trip home, a visit to family, a day at the sea, a special encounter or simply enjoying beautiful surroundings together. Wishes do not have to be big to be of priceless value. Sometimes one ride, one encounter or one precious moment means the whole world.

Where before we could mainly fulfil wishes with our trikes and sidecar motorcycles, from now on we could also take along people for whom that was physically no longer possible. With that a new world opened up for us and we could give even more people a smile, a precious memory and a moment of happiness.

That afternoon not only a location was opened. A new chapter began. A dream that once started small had finally been given wheels.

Ten years of Rijden voor Geluk

An unforgettable Whitsun weekend full of freedom, togetherness and emotion.

From Friday 22 to Monday 25 May 2026, Foundation Rijden voor Geluk celebrated its tenth anniversary in Park Groot Scholtenhagen in Haaksbergen. It became a grand and emotional Whitsun weekend in which participants, visitors, volunteers and artists came together with one shared goal: giving people living with an illness or disability an unforgettable moment of happiness.

An international anniversary

In ten years' time Rijden voor Geluk grew into an international event. Trike riders, sidecar riders and motorcyclists from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Austria and England travelled to Haaksbergen to help celebrate the anniversary.

Some participants came with small caravans behind their trikes and stayed at Camping Scholtenhagen. A special international camp arose there. Different languages, vehicles and nationalities came together, connected by the same passion and the same goal: bringing happiness to people who need it so badly.

Whitsun Saturday - one big celebration

On Saturday 23 May, Park Groot Scholtenhagen turned into a large festival ground. With no fewer than 170 market stalls and sales pitches, the largest fair ever in Haaksbergen and surroundings took place.

On the grounds of the athletics club, Geluksland was set up: a grand and completely free children's festival. Children enjoyed a full funfair, large bouncy castles and countless other activities. No one had to stay on the sidelines; every child could join in and enjoy without a care.

There was also an impressive wild bird show by Valkenflucht from Enschede. During the International Trike, Sidecar and Motor-Run, children, elderly people and people with an illness or disability could ride along and experience the feeling of freedom.

The anniversary weekend was framed by music, dance and entertainment. There were performances by, among others, Thomas Berge, Dennie Christian, Edwin van Hoevelaak, Manuela and Helene Fischer Tribute by Natasja Poels. Various artists, music ensembles and dance schools from Haaksbergen and surroundings also performed.

Everywhere there was laughter, singing and dancing. Young and old, healthy and ill, visitor and volunteer: everyone belonged.

First day of Whitsun - the international ride

On Sunday 24 May, the first day of Whitsun, the emotional highlight followed: the big international ride of Rijden voor Geluk.

Early in the morning, motorcycles, trikes, sidecar motorcycles, Can-Ams and wish ambulances gathered at the Schuttershoes. Participants kept arriving right up until departure. In the end no fewer than 489 participants rode through the beautiful Twente and Achterhoek hedgerow landscape.

Mayor Gerard van den Hengel performed the official opening. In his speech he expressed his great appreciation for the organisation and the many volunteers who devote themselves heart and soul to people who need a ray of light so badly.

This year too the mayor rode at the front of the impressively long procession.

Along the route people stood everywhere waving and applauding. For the passengers this was much more than an ordinary ride. Many of them live daily with a chronic or terminal illness, depend on a wheelchair or, due to their health, barely get outside anymore.

During this ride the illness did not count for a moment. It was about freedom, adventure, attention and the feeling of fully belonging.

A long-cherished dream rides along

The emotions were greater this year than ever before. For the first time our own WishAmbulance Haaksbergen officially rode along during the big Whitsun ride. Our promotion ambulance was also part of the procession.

For us, the care coordinators, volunteers and sponsors, this was a historic moment. The WishAmbulance symbolised years of dreaming, cooperating, persevering and never giving up.

WishAmbulance Zuidoost-Drenthe and WishAmbulance Wish & Care also rode along. Their presence underlined the special bond between organisations that lovingly devote themselves to giving people in vulnerable situations an unforgettable experience.

There, not just a long procession of vehicles rode through the landscape. There, hope, love and humanity rode by.

Nikei: "We're going to have a party"

Eleven-year-old Nikei experienced a very special ride with WishAmbulance Haaksbergen.

Nikei has spinal muscular atrophy, abbreviated SMA, and uses a wheelchair. A year earlier he had been physically unable to ride along on a trike. Thanks to our new, fully equipped WishAmbulance, he was able to take part this year after all.

Together with his mother Femke he experienced the ride from inside the ambulance. Via a screen he could follow everything and felt fully part of the impressive procession.

Before departure he said full of enthusiasm: "We're going to have a party."

Those words touched everyone. Nikei did not look at what he could not do, but at everything that was made possible that day. And a party it became.

His smile, the loving support of his mother and the care of our volunteers made this ride a moment that no one will ever forget.

208 wishes fulfilled

In our anniversary year we fulfilled no fewer than 208 wishes. Behind every number lies a person, a family and a personal story.

It is about people who want to go to a beloved place one more time, visit a family member, experience a special day or escape illness, pain and daily worries for a while.

These moments of happiness are only possible thanks to the efforts of our volunteers, healthcare professionals, drivers, motorcyclists, trike riders, sidecar riders, traffic marshals, sponsors, entrepreneurs and artists.

They often devote themselves selflessly and in the background. Not for applause or recognition, but for that one smile, that tear of happiness and that unforgettable memory.

An anniversary with a golden edge

The tenth anniversary of Rijden voor Geluk became a Whitsun weekend that Haaksbergen will not forget any time soon.

The international guests, the big fair, Geluksland, the free funfair, the bouncy castles, the wild bird show, the International Trike, Sidecar and Motor-Run, the artists and the impressive ride made the weekend grand.

But the real success was not in the numbers. It was in the smile of a child. In the tears of a mother. In the volunteer who lovingly adjusted a blanket. In the motorcyclist who carried his passenger safely through the landscape. In Mayor Gerard van den Hengel, who once again led the long procession. In our own WishAmbulance Haaksbergen, which took part in the big Whitsun ride officially for the first time. And in the unforgettable words of Nikei: "We're going to have a party."

Ten years of Rijden voor Geluk became an anniversary full of love, freedom, togetherness and deep emotions. A weekend in which wishes became reality. A weekend in which tears and smiles were allowed to exist side by side. A weekend full of happiness.

1,057 wishes in ten years

From 2016 through 2026, Foundation Rijden voor Geluk fulfilled a total of 1,057 wishes.

Behind each of these wishes lies a special person, a cherished story and a memory that lasts forever.

By now we have also been able to carry out special wish rides with our own WishAmbulance Haaksbergen. We are incredibly proud of that. Every ride confirms once again why we do this: giving people a precious moment of freedom, love and happiness.

Bringing happiness all year round

Rijden voor Geluk is much more than just the annual Whitsun weekend. All year round we devote ourselves to fulfilling wishes and giving people a special moment of freedom, attention and happiness.

With our WishAmbulance, trikes and sidecar motorcycles we make wish rides possible free of charge for people who are terminally or chronically ill, live with a disability or are temporarily less mobile. Sometimes it is about a final visit to a cherished place, a meeting with family or a special day out. Sometimes a ride through the surroundings, with the wind in your face, is enough to let someone forget all their worries for a while.

We also visit care institutions and organise special rides for residents. In addition we take part in fairs, markets and other activities to raise awareness of our foundation, meet people and raise money for new wish rides.

All wishes we carry out we offer completely free of charge. The wish applicant and his or her family do not have to pay anything. Thanks to the support of volunteers, sponsors, donors and dedicated entrepreneurs, we can make these special moments possible.

Behind every activity lies the same goal: letting people experience that they matter and that, even in difficult times, there may be room for a smile and a cherished memory.

The Whitsun weekend is a special highlight every year, but our work continues all year round. Every wish, big or small, deserves our full attention and is carried out free of charge and with just as much love.