- A playground compliant with EU directives was built at Želeč, in the Louny region
- Nearly half the costs were covered by a contribution from the T-Mobile Fund
- International Children's Day will see a festive opening ceremony with a rich program
Prague, 29 May 2007 - Residents of Želeč in the Louny region realized there is a lot to the Czech proverb "Play keeps mischief away". And they decided to act accordingly, so that children could play in their village: together with the Měcholupy community council under whose authority Želeč is, they set about building a new children's playground.
The project will bring benefits not only to those approximately fifty children that live here, but also to dozens of other kids that regularly come to this village for holidays. "They will undoubtedly enjoy the new and safe playground very much," says Martina Kemrová, Head of Corporate Communication at T-Mobile.
The playground was built right at the village square on a vacant lot left after a ruined building. Construction started last summer. Its area of 600 m2 is bounded by a hedge and a wooden fence and the local residents have spent an uncountable number of hours working on it. The children of Želeč have also done their bit. However, the playground's equipment needed to be made by professionals as it had to conform to the strict EU rules.
"We bought a number of wooden elements from a toy specialist. We also have a tower with a slide, a sandpit, a climbing frame, swings and seesaws," says Lenka Vlčková, a local resident and leader of the project, adding: "We are very happy that the project has been completed successfully. The children had nowhere to play and a playground was their utmost desire. The total budget was close to CZK 250,000 including the volunteers' work. The T-Mobile Fund contributed to this with CZK 119,500 by means of the Euroregion Labe Community Foundation.
A festive opening ceremony in connection with the new children's playground will take place together with the celebrations of the International Children's Day, which the residents of Želeč planned for 2 June. The opening ribbon for the playground will be cut shortly after 12 p.m. The rich afternoon program includes songs delivered by the SuperStar singer Michal Hudček, a performance by majorettes and a historic fencing group. There will also be a theatre play for children and a performance of martial arts by the Aikido sports club. The celebrations will last till the evening.
Last year, the Euroregion Labe Community Foundation distributed almost CZK 2 million out of the total CZK 5.4 million available in the T-Mobile Fund, contributing to various projects in the Louny region. The rest of the money from the T-Mobile Fund is administered by the VIA Foundation, operating in the regions of Hradec Králové and Prague 11. Last year, the T-Mobile Fund supported a total of 71 projects selected out of 206 applications.