The Rand is populated by a whole host of unusual businesses, including some quite well-known undertakings and others that are less familiar.

‘I can’t imagine staying on the sidelines during this coronavirus crisis’, says Anouk Van Leynseele, head of paediatrics at the Jan Portaels general hospital, in Vilvoorde.

A growing number of non-Dutch-speaking inhabitants in the Flemish Rand are eager to join local sports clubs. ‘de Rand’s’ Boest! campaign is designed to help clubs cope with the increasingly multilingual environment they are faced with.