It is a great and motivating feeling when a professional meeting is not only useful but also pleasant!
At another face-to-face meeting of our Indeed international Erasmus+ project on independent living in Zilina, we learned a lot about the possibilities, achievements and planned developments of independent living in Slovakia, thanks to our partner Land of Harmony. The headquarters of the organisation is a building with two independent living apartments. Sitting in its pleasant garden, we got to know the organisation, its residents, staff and volunteers.

Later, we had a very interesting visit to the town hall, where we were welcomed by the mayor and deputy mayor, who emphasized that the exchange of experiences with other countries in the field of accessibility is very useful for them. A special team is working on accessibility, bringing together architects, social and transport experts. From an architect’s point of view, the aim is to link history and the future, with accessibility as one of the main tasks. It is important that accessible spaces and public buildings are not designed specifically for people with disabilities, but inclusively, i.e. for everyone together, involving the public and users. There are no specialised rehabilitation architects in Slovakia, where all architects are trained in universal design.
From a social point of view, it was surprising and gratifying to hear that in a city of 80,000 inhabitants, there are 36 municipally owned, rentable, accessible homes available. And they are all in use.
They also make an effort to take care of transport, although when we were there we often had problems with the pavements in wheelchairs and could not get into several buildings because of the stairs.

During a visit to the personal assistance agency, we saw that they do a lot of organising and work to help people with disabilities – with only two staff. Personal assistance in Slovakia is on the right track, but it has not yet fully achieved its goal. A legal regulation was achieved as a grassroots initiative in 1998. Taking into account several criteria (e.g. activity, number of children, social circumstances, availability of a job), it is possible to request the assistance of a personal assistant, which can amount to 20 hours per day per assistant. The support provided is varied: self-care, hygiene, mobility, feeding, shopping, housework, educational-, sporting-, and cultural activities, communication, nursing, organising leisure and holidays, transporting children to school, and stand-by care. There is also a database on clients and assistants, and on the needs, expectations and commitments of both. The exchange of experiences takes place on excursions and at joint cookouts, as there is no special club for assistants.
Unfortunately, personal assistant is not recognised as an independent job in Slovakia either. There is a contract between the disabled person and the assistant, a minimum social security contribution paid by the state and they also get tax relief for working more than a certain number of hours. But there is little income, and people become assistants mainly for personal motivation, so they usually take the job as a second/part-time job. The agency organises campaigns at universities, seminars and also works with the job center to offer this option as a temporary solution for the unemployed.

The New Synagogue, which operates as a cultural space, has become a great favourite of the international team. Here we heard a report about the inclusive festival Jasidielna (Jolly workshop). This colourful, cultural, international festival has been held in Zilina every year for 25 years. People with disabilities also perform as artists or volunteer at this festival. It was fascinating to hear the enthusiasm of volunteers who first got involved in the festival at the age of 15 or 17 and now, at 50, continue to support it as lawyers and NGO leaders. A festival like this is the best opportunity for young people in secondary school to gain direct experience of disability as volunteers.

At the end of the two-day meeting, we returned to the garden to evaluate our experiences with Land of Harmony’s disabled volunteers. It was hard to say goodbye to beautiful Slovakia. Fortunately, we meet online every month, the work continues, and in October we will meet again in person, this time in Pécs/Hungary, hosted by the People First Public Benefit Association.

Read more about the Indeed project here: !ndeed Erasmus+ international project – People First

We have received several requests to help make Pécs’ important sites accessible to all. It was a great experience to meet again with people who want to do something, to have useful discussions and to know for sure that we are moving towards a more accessible environment again. Which should not forget that it is GOOD FOR EVERYONE!

On the morning of 6. June 2024, we were met at the Pécs-Pogány Airport by Managing Director Márk Dragovácz, who has already indicated several times that he would like to make the airport even more accessible and inclusive for everyone. You can read the description of the airport in our Barrier-free Pécs Database (click here: https://peoplefirst.hu/en/directory/barrier-free-pecs/pecs-pogany-airport/)
This time, Ildikó Kakusziné Tamasy, a member of our association, a rehabilitation engineer, came from Szeged city to help us. We were delighted to be joined by Anna Mária Ballai, President of the Blind and Visually Impaired Association of Csongrád-Csanád County.
You can follow the accessibility changes in the Database!

The airport exploration, expected to be fruitful for both sides, was followed by an equally exciting meeting. Many people know that the Apollo Cinema in Pécs is not only a cinema, but also hosts very interesting community events in a nice and pleasant space. However, the art cinema, located on the first floor of a historical building, is not barrier-free. Gabi Varga, the manager of the cinema, wants to change that and make this great place accessible to all. We have worked hard on it, but here Ildiko has a difficult task.

Late in the afternoon we held the kick-off meeting of our Pécs City Civil Framework 2024 project. As a result of this project you will find 5 more accessible sites in our Barrier-free Pécs Database by the end of the year, thanks to the exploratory team: Evelin, Hilda, Krisztina, Gergő, Robi, Zoli responsible for the maintenance of the database, and the applicant/coordinator/data uploader Veronika.

Our Polish and Czech partners visited us for a three-day study tour in Pécs. In the framework of our project “Walk in our shoes”, supported by the International Visegrad Fund, we presented our Hidden City Tor-Tour to our project partners as a best practice.

On a beautiful sunny morning of the meeting, Gergő Berkes the leader of the Hidden City Tor-Tour, and his support partner Zoltán Borsodi gave a walk through the city centre, from a barrier-free perspective. And that afternoon, in our BeFogadó community space we discussed the experiences so far, listened to the Polish and Czech project reports and planned future tasks. Even a tasting of Pécs wines and an accessible visit to Cella Septichora fitted into our programme. 🙂

The study tour was the first step to visiting each other. The People First Association had previously provided an online training to Fundacija Sowelo and EYCB members on how they could create similar sensitizing city-walks. Now they have been further helped by seeing us lead a Hidden City Tor-Tour live. Fortunately, we have enthusiastic partners who not only enjoyed the walk, but also gave us very useful opinions and suggestions for improvement!

In the current phase of the project, partners have developed their individual methodologies to organise their own Hidden City Walks.
We are looking forward to the next study tours in Poznan/Poland in June, and Vrchlabi/Czech Republic in August, to see what the Polish and Czech versions of the Hidden City look like!

Thank you for being here and we’re so glad you enjoyed our city!

This is the 8th year that we and our partners have organised a national, inclusive festival where everyone can have fun together disabled and able-bodied, and where participants can try experiences that they would otherwise not have, or only very rarely. What are they? For example, driving a car as a blind person, riding a motorbike in a wheelchair, or even dragon boating…

The organization of this year’s festival started today, with a pleasant, friendly, barrier-free excursion. Thanks to this, not only the festival’s organising committee and some of its volunteers, but also the stakeholders who took part in the excursion were invited to support our work with their valuable ideas and contributions. It was great to work together and organise this year’s Barrier-free Tourism Day festival!

This year’s date is 7. September, which is not new for many regular participants. In order to be able to plan ahead, we hold the event on the first Saturday of September each year.

We are looking forward to welcoming everyone from all over the country and even from abroad, as in the past years!
Follow this year’s festival on the People First Association Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/PeopleFirstHun/), or on the Barrier-free Tourism Day Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/turizmus.akadalymentes)

There is a great online newspaper, Mecseki Müzli, which summarises the most important news of our region every week. And its podcasts cover interesting local or even more far-reaching topics. Veronika Pataki, the president of the association, and Hilda Kerekes, a member of the board, were happy to attend such a good-mood podcast discussion.

The main topic was our Barrier-free Pécs Database as our aim is to be identified with our association. But we also discussed the accessibility of the Mecseki Müzli. 🙂

Listen to us, we want to know how you liked it!
And follow, use, share the Barrier-free Pécs Database, because it’s GOOD FOR EVERYONE!

Click here for the podcast:
https://www.mecsekimuzli.com/people-first-egyesulet-pataki-veronika-kerekes-hilda-akadalymentes-pecs/

Barrier-free tourism will be a key issue in the near future, that much is already certain. More and more elderly people are travelling, more and more people with disabilities are travelling – hopefully as independently as possible.

There has been an airport in Pécs for a long time, but until now it has not been possible to fly from our city for holidays or business, or only for a short time. Now, however, the opportunity has been opened up and there is a huge interest in both holidays and flights to Munich, which also offers business and family visit opportunities.

Read about the accessibility of Pécs-Pogány Airport and our cooperation in its development in our Barrier-free Pécs Database!
Pécs-Pogány Airport – People First

Az Universal Air repülője látható a kifutópályán. Hosszú, vékony, kecses repülőgép, két hatalmas motorturbinával az oldalán.

We are involved in a project with a special theme and a very topical subject, in an unusually large international partnership.
It is increasingly important that people with disabilities are able to access financial services and banking products without barriers, and that they have a thorough knowledge of this sector, of security and of the difficulties that may arise.

This is the subject of our latest international project, CODE – theCcessibility Of financial services for persons withDisabilitiEs.
This is another big step towards social inclusion.

We will be working with Italian, Spanish, Belgian, Greek, French partners, experts and of course people with disabilities themselves.
Read more about this exciting new project on our website under the Projects menu here: https://peoplefirst.hu/en/blog-post/code-erasmus-international-project/?fbclid=IwAR2VbW1r1sqQkeO-sCYL5equrCJjQrVAvU6DCzSFEzrd07KHLE8rEiLWDbA_aem_AZyrIauUVDWkCMRAfaPUmSg6iCN92Lfl0WJah6NtPHCjhKa9Lm6tK3LZ9QXSr2A8yA4qj0hHwpdowJWaEtRZn__W

It is a great pleasure when NGOs in Pécs ask the city government for something and it is implemented within a short time. This happened last year, when several civil society organisations at the Civil Forum asked for city funding to be made available through tenders. The reason for this is that many NGOs work for the people of Pécs, for those in need, often carrying out activities that the state or the municipality cannot or cannot adequately provide. A number of exemplary initiatives have been/are being implemented in Pécs by NGOs.

Last year’s Pécs City Civic Framework will continue this year, with a little more money available for applicants. It is a great achievement that – also at the request of Pécs civic activists – the call for applications was launched at the beginning of the year. The application method has also been improved, with the House of Civic Communities playing a major role as coordinator.

Listen to the PécsTV news report about this, in which, to our great delight, People First is featured prominently. Thank you PécsTV!

“I never used to care about what was going on behind my back, but while sitting in a wheelchair it has become the most important thing”
“Somehow it never occurred to me that you not only have to go up a ramp, but also down. And it’s scary in a wheelchair”
“I will look at the world in a completely different way after trying the white cane”
A large international team is taking home these experiences by trying our Hidden City Tor-Tour once again. (https://peoplefirst.hu/blog-post/rejtett-varos-tor-tour-a/)

Once again, they will pass on to many people those useful experiences that are not enough to say, they must be lived!

The team, coming from several countries, participated in a conference entitled “Disabilities and abilities framed by context” in the framework of the EDUC project of the University of Pécs. At this conference Veronika Pataki, president of our association, presented our Accessible Pécs Database (https://peoplefirst.hu/akadalymentes-pecs/) to the international audience. The additional programme of the conference (MICE) was the Hidden City Tor-Tour in the evening, led by our vice-president Gergő Berkes in his usual uplifting mood.

On the next day of the conference, we launched a series of discussions with the faculty of the University of Pécs and three invited NGOs, including People First, in the framework of the EDUC programme. The topic of this discussion was the cooperation of several international universities in the development of their services, with a special focus on inclusion.
We look forward to continuing this!