July 2, 2025

We have made great progress towards a budget for equipment and outdoor areas. A former scientist at the university has donated 500,000 euros for the construction of the new Campuskinder daycare center. Together with an inheritance of several hundred thousand euros and the results of various fundraising campaigns, the million mark has now been broken. Dr. Eckhard Schenke, Chairman of the MHH plus Foundation, is delighted with the generous donation: "This brings our fundraising campaign to the home straight. We are absolutely delighted!" As the state is not providing any funds for the new building, the construction, which will cost around 10 million euros, is to be financed by an investor: The investor builds the daycare center and then leases it to MHH. In order to keep the subsequent rental payments to the investor as low as possible, the equipment and outdoor area are not to be financed by the investor, but by donations. The costs for this are currently estimated at 1.5 million euros. The fundraising campaign has triggered great commitment within the MHH. Employees donate themselves or call for donations. Posters and donation boxes are displayed in all Clinical Departments and at central locations throughout the university. The donation from the former MHH scientist is, of course, exceptional. He does not wish to be named, but he sees the donation as a thank you to his university. "The MHH has always supported me in my development and given me exactly the freedom that successful research requires. I am very grateful for that," says the donor. "A university couldn't wish for better feedback," says Vice President Saurin, who is responsible for the new nursery building project. "This means a lot to us as Presidium. And the campus children really deserve the support!"

June 10, 2025

A good year ago, it became clear that the new building for the Campuskinder daycare center could not be financed by donations alone. In spring 2024, Vice President Martina Saurin therefore set out to find an investor who would build the daycare center and rent it to the MHH. It soon became clear that the good news was very close at hand. Mecklenburgische Liegenschafts-GmbH, also located on Karl-Wiechert-Allee, could well imagine building the MHH daycare center. The initial talks were followed by further discussions in which the wholly-owned subsidiary of Mecklenburgische Versicherungsgesellschaft a.G. also showed interest in networking more closely with MHH beyond its role as a pure investor. In future, the new, larger daycare center will also have a small contingent of childcare places that Mecklenburgische can book for the children of its employees. Last Friday, the previous agreements were confirmed with a joint letter of intent. Although this is not yet a watertight contract, it is nonetheless a serious declaration of intent that both sides intend to pursue the path they have taken with energy and vigor.

May 13, 2025

After Vice President Martina Saurin has just turned her birthday into a fundraiser for the new daycare center, the next power woman shows us how it's done. PD Dr. Nadine Freifrau von Maltzahn, Senior Physician at the Clinical Department of Dental Prosthetics and Biomedical Materials, used her inaugural lecture in March as an opportunity to collect donations for the new nursery building. "My son is also looked after by the campus children and I can confirm from my own experience how valuable this care is," says von Maltzahn. "That's why I simply wanted to raise awareness of the issue among my friends and colleagues." The spontaneous campaign raised 75 euros, bringing us a little closer to our goal - thank you very much!

April 22, 2025

Martina Saurin has dedicated herself wholeheartedly to the new Campuskinder daycare center. The project has been a high priority for the Vice President for over two years, because she knows what the company daycare center with its special educational offer and opening hours adapted to MHH operations means for many MHH employees. Although there is still no sign of this in the everyday lives of the campus children, behind the scenes coordination with the construction department, discussions with investors and the application for the new operating license are already in full swing - and Saurin is always in the thick of things. She also dedicated her own birthday to the project: instead of small gifts, she asked for a contribution towards financing the daycare center's equipment. The donation box she handed over to MHHplus board member Dr. Eckhard Schenke in her office contained over 400 euros. And the best part? "I'm doubling the amount," said Martina Saurin at the handover. "I was so pleased to see how committed my colleagues were, so of course I want to contribute something myself." That's real commitment - and another plus on the donation account for the new daycare center, which now stands at just under 68,000 euros. By the way: the emptied donation box was immediately put back at the reception. "After the donations is before the donations - I will continue to invite all my visitors to support the new building for the campus children until it is finally finished," says Saurin with a wink.

January 13, 2025

Celebrating for a good cause! This was the motto of the Center for Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine's Christmas party, which called for donations for the new MHH daycare center for campus children. Thanks to the participation of all employees, €1,600 was finally raised and not only the children were happy about the full piggy bank at the festive handover in front of the dental clinic. The four clinic directors Prof. Dr. Rainer Schwestka-Polly, Prof. Dr. Meike Stiesch, Prof. Dr. Nadine Kai Schlüter and Prof. Dr. Nils-Claudius Gellrich (from left) were also visibly delighted as they posed with Martin Fulst and Britta Barysch (daycare center management) and of course Maja and Lasse for MHH photographer Karin Kaiser.

June 19, 2024

Anyone building a new daycare center for a maximum of five groups can use standards as a guide, commission an architect and apply for an operating permit from the Regional State Office for Schools and Education (RLSB) with the completed construction drawings. If you are planning a daycare complex for 15 groups and want to build a two-storey building for reasons of space and climate protection, you are well advised not to wait until the architect has already planned the building before contacting the RLSB. But how do you obtain an operating permit for a daycare center that no one knows exactly what it will look like? This is the challenge that daycare center director Martin Fulst and architect Oliver Thiele are currently facing. Their strategy: to concretize the project step by step in consultation with the RLSB. Their goal: the "prospect of an operating license", i.e. the preliminary stage of the actual operating license. At an initial meeting today, the two presented the space allocation plan that has been drawn up so far, which has already been roughly visualized. The kindergarten groups are to be accommodated on the upper floor, while the smaller crèche children will have direct access to the outdoor area on the first floor. The basic outline of this idea - as well as the rest of the concept - met with the approval of the RLSB. Only minor changes are to be made before the follow-up date at the end of July. And then fingers crossed that the RLSB will give the green light and Martin Fulst and Oliver Thiele will return to the MHH with a reliable basis for the design planning of the building.

March 14, 2024

When it was announced in December 2023 that the building of the MHH daycare center Campuskinder would have to be demolished in the medium term, but that there was not enough money for a new building, this caused a stir, especially among the parents affected. The idea of having to raise over 10 million euros within a very short space of time with a fundraising campaign to secure the continued existence of the daycare center also filled the Head of the Fundraising Administrative Unit, Dr. Eckhard Schenke, with concern: "Such a high fundraising target usually requires a broad-based campaign and years of preparation. But we don't have that time."

Fortunately, another solution is currently emerging for the Campus Children, as Vice President Saurin and her team are currently examining various investor models. "The aim is to find an investor who will build the new daycare center and rent it to the MHH," says Saurin. "Although this would increase the monthly costs compared to the status quo, it would allow us to break ground relatively quickly. And according to current model calculations, the increase will be moderate if it is distributed among all those involved." However, the fundraising advisory board set up specifically for the campaign will not be out of a job, as the plan pursued by the Vice President will only work if the building's furnishings and the design of the outdoor area are financed by the school itself and are not part of the investor model. At the moment, architect Oliver Thiele from MHH Construction Management is assuming around 1.5 million euros for this.

In addition to the financing, the project team led by Vice President Saurin is currently also focusing on the selection of the building site. The original plan was to use the grass sports field next to the daycare center. The first construction phase was to be built there. The second part of the building would have been built on the vacant site once the old daycare center building had been demolished. However, a change in the route of the light rail, which is intended to ensure the connection to the new clinic building on Stadtfelddamm, could cross or pass right through this grass sports field. It therefore currently seems more sensible to use the large parking lot in front of it for the new daycare center. This area also has the advantage that it would be large enough to realize the construction in a single construction phase and thus save costs. After completion of the new daycare center building, new parking spaces would then be created on the site of the old daycare center. Daycare center director Martin Fulst remains calm in the face of the various possibilities: "I'm looking forward to the new daycare center, no matter where it is located."

December 18, 2023

In the last week before Christmas, the fundraising campaign can now also be heard on the radio: ffn editor Maximilian Altstadt visited the MHH company daycare center and spoke to daycare center director Martin Fulst about the current situation at the facility. He also had nurse Desiree Mai, whose daughter is cared for at the daycare center, tell him what makes the campus children so special. She also explained to him why a municipal daycare center with care starting between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. is not an alternative for the single mother who works shifts. The result is three short reports that will be broadcast regularly on the ffn program from today. We are delighted and thank you for the great support!