The Aan family (Estonia) received the European Large Family of the Year 2022 Award

The Aan family, awarded the Estonian large family in 2016, made history by winning the title of the European Large Family of the Year 2022 as never before has this award given to a family from Estonia.

The Award was presented in the city of Tartu on Thursday 12 January 2023 by the country’s First Lady Sirje Karis, ELFAC Secretary General Raul Sanchez and the President of the Estonian Large Families Association Aage Ounap, with the assistance of members of the boards of the local and national large families associations.

Sirje Karis, the first lady of Estonia, said in her speech when handing over the title of the big European family, that the foundation of the Aan family values is built on togetherness, honesty, love, care, trust, cultivating independence and courage. “The Aan family carries these values with dignity. In such a loving and safe environment, a new generation can grow who believes in themselves, who can succeed in life and who won’t forget where the threshold is, over which they entered life,” she said.

“This is undoubtedly the biggest recognition of our life so far,” said Janne Aan, mother of the European Large Family of the Year, upon receiving the title. “This is a victory for all Estonian families with children, and we are proud that our family was able to bring this title to Estonia for the first time.”

A total of 7 children are growing in the family of the year under the care of mother Janne and father Peeter. Pere Sihtkapital. a non-profit foundation, congratulated the family with a prize check of 10,000 euros.

Raúl Sánchez of ELFAC presented the symbolic statue of the award to the Aan family. He said that the sculpture represents a wave from which parents emerge with three children: “We are in a time when we need to unleash this wave, the wave of the family, in the countries of Europe and in many other parts of the world, to create a new spring, a new society in which families can have the children they want and in which they are welcomed by the whole of society as a valuable and valued asset. Our future is at stake, and that future is now largely in the hands of large families. Families like the Aan family, whose example shows us that this new society, a more family-friendly Europe, is possible”.