Flames on the Beach: How a community project in The Hague is helping youngsters ‘Find their Fire’

3 min read 5 Feb 2026 Download text

Hart Beach is a popular surf and skate hangout in the Scheveningen area of The Hague, but it is also the home of Firestarters, a unique programme to help disadvantaged young people reignite their passion for life and ‘Find their Fire’.

By Tom Clarke

Features writer and podcast host for Stories of Purpose.

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Finding fire at Hart Beach

It is, perhaps, a hidden crisis. In the City of The Hague alone, there are more than 14,000 teenagers who have dropped out of school and are not yet in employment. Firestarters takes a small cohort of these kids and offers structure and new potential to chaotic lives.

But this is not some rigid boot camp. Instead, three times a week, the group takes to the sand to play games of touch rugby, break for coffee, and complete writing assignments. All in the fresh air, away from mobile devices and social media. “It’s very tough for young people at the moment and a lot of them can’t find their way,” says Jonas Brøg, co-founder of Firestarters.

How Jonas found fire

Jonas knows what these young people are going through better than most. Growing up, he was, by his own admission, a bright kid, but mostly bored and often in trouble at school. It wasn’t until he was 14 that he found his own fire - thanks to his Iranian refugee drum teacher, who showed him that his future lay in the music industry. For many years, Jonas toured with some of the biggest bands in the world as a session musician, and he is also a successful singer-songwriter in his own right.

Now he wants to share what he’s learned with today’s young people, and that starts with talking about their own hidden passions that they may have buried for years.

“I like to ask them: ‘When was the last time you were out-of-this-world excited about something?’ And they think for a minute. And they’re reluctant to say anything. But if you’re patient they’ll all come up with something eventually. I remember one guy had loved coaching little kids football a couple of years before, but his parents wanted him to study law. That kind of conflict is at the heart of many of these young people’s problems. We want to show them that anything is possible if they follow their own unique path.”

Jonas Brøg

Firestarters takes off

Jonas founded Firestarters alongside professional rugby player David Weersma and entrepreneur Jeroen Harteveld. The programme is completely free, and is funded by the Founders themselves, alongside investors and benefactors who recognise the fact that everyone has potential - but may struggle to realise it.

The first official Firestarter programme was held at the end of 2025, with the first cohort of graduates celebrating with a big party on Hart Beach. This year, the programme is expanding beyond The Hague, into the rest of the Netherlands.

Building a Firestarter community

“It was so rewarding to see these young people proudly wearing their Firestarter shirts, with the ‘01’ badge to show they were in the very first group. And we want those people to stay with us and help us build, assisting us with the next group, and the next one, right up to leading sessions in the future as a Firestarter coach. Because, who better to lead these programmes than the people who have been through it themselves? Our dream is to create a community - a whole ecosystem - where young people have a chance to find their own fire.” says Jonas Brøg.

Flames on the Beach: How a community project in The Hague is helping youngsters ‘Find their Fire’