Disabled children will get to school more easily

• The Jistota special school in Prostějov can now use a new Ford Transit minibus for its children
• The T-Mobile Employee Fund contributed CZK 75,000 for the operation of the minibus

Prague, 4 December 2007 - The services of the Jistota private school for disabled children are in great demand not only in Prostějov, where the school is located, but also in the greater surrounding area encompassing the Olomouc, Přerov and Vyškov regions. The school recently acquired a Ford Transit minibus so that the schoolchildren could travel more safely, and the T­-Mobile Employee Fund contributed CZK 75,000 for its operation. Thanks to the minibus, commuting to school is now much safer, and so is traveling between school facilities in Přerov and the nearby village of Výšovice.

"The Jistota civic organization has been expanding its activities for many years. The organization's systematic care for severely disabled children is admirable, and so are the results; it definitely deserves our support," says Martina Kemrová, Senior Head of Corporate Communication at T-­Mobile.

The school was founded by Marie Turková who has also been its director since its inception. It opened with four classes of 17 children of different ages on 1 September 1993 with the help of residents of the Prostějov region and local firms. In May 1994, the Speciální škola, o.p.s., as it was then called, moved into a restored building in Ivan Olbracht Street in Prostějov. The school's student body doubled at that time. At the beginning of the 21^st century, the school acquired the Na Tetíně building and its activities spread even further. "As the children grow up, it is necessary to prepare them for challenges so that they can lead a quality life in the future," says Marie Turková, adding: "We therefore elaborated a joint project of restoration and renovation of the Výšovice castle with the local town hall, which included setting up a school of practical education, with one- and two-year training programs whose classes opened at the beginning of this year." All these improvements resulted in a new name for the civic organization to reflect the changes; last autumn it was renamed as Střední škola, základní škola a mateřská škola Jistota, o.p.s. (High school, elementary school and nursery school Jistota).

Altogether, about 60 pupils aged 3 to 18 currently attend the school. The school provides children with both mild and severe mental, sensory or physical disabilities with first-rate individual care, education and rehabilitation: hippotherapy, canistherapy, physical education, etc. "A number of children whose disabilities prevented them from moving on their own started walking again. Some children later started attending ordinary elementary schools, got admitted to grammar schools and even to universities," says Marie Turková. "Our objective is to develop the children's abilities to the maximum possible extent." However, the school's plans extend even further: After the Výšovice castle is renovated, it will also provide apartments for disabled persons requiring medical care. "We want to make sure that all of our children can live their lives to the full even after they become adults, regardless of whether this concerns their work, cultural or social life," says Turková.

This is the second year that various projects have received financial contributions from the T­-Mobile Employee Fund. Funding set aside for the T-­Mobile Employee Fund is managed by the VIA Foundation, which selected proposals from among 133 projects recommended by T­-Mobile employees, distributing the total amount of CZK 2 million among 27 organizations.

More information is available from Marie Turková, e-mail: marie.turkova@seznam.cz, tel.: 528360007, web: www.pytetin.cz.

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.