Our most important event in 2023 is that our association has become a public benefit status. Why is this a big change? On the one hand, because from now on we will open up many of our (we think exciting) activities “to the public”, i.e. we will not only offer them to our members. On the other hand, many tender opportunities open up for us newly. And thirdly, supporting a public benefit organization is more suitable for a company or corporation in several respects. We hope that the latter will be possible in a novel framework in 2024. We are already working on it – not alone, of course, but in partnership.

The thinking in partnership has not changed, in fact it has strengthened in us. It is not easy to work as an NGO today in the socio-economic environment. But if we work together, we can still achieve much more results, a larger target group, a stronger impact.

Not only do we sustain ourselves, but we also build strategies, apply, grow and strengthen. In 2023, we took a deep breath and applied for the first time independently for the implementation of an international project, of which we are also coordinators. A serious task, a lot of new experience, again great new partnerships.

We are increasingly trying to communicate to our members that they are the best experts in their field, not others. They do not have to wait for solutions from outside, but they have to take the initiative, connect and do something for the betterment of their lives and environment.
Fortunately, there are many opportunities for this in Pécs. Whether to have an effective say in the affairs of the municipality or to jointly define goals, with funds that can be spent jointly. Even regular meetings with other organizations, experts, city leaders. Whether it’s the ability to report problems or make the city more accessible.
And there is our Barrier-free Pécs Database, the center of our activities. With this, we help a lot for those arriving from Pécs, Hungary and abroad in predictability and barrier-free tourism.
We felt too the general passivity this year. But People first, so we keep rolling and doing what we already know.

What we’ve been doing in 2023, showing you some numbers as usual:

• We wrote or participated in the writing of 8 applications. These are both large international and smaller domestic tenders. 4 won, 1 is still waiting for the result.
• Our membership could participate in international and domestic projects, learn about exciting good practices, build relationships, work, earn money, travel, even practice a foreign language, help with technical developments for people with disabilities.
• We have built an international People First network.
• We campaigned for 1% personal income tax (Hungarian option for NGOs) and barrier-free holiday destinations.
• We organized international meetings, trainings, conferences in Pécs – and how difficult it was to find accessible restaurants in the city center! 🙁
• We continued to update the Barrier-free Pécs Database with new locations and continuously followed the changes of older locations.
• We actively participate in local civil life, thanks to the programs of the Local Equal Opportunities Program, the Civil Forums, the Pécs Tourism Roundtable, the civil meetings with ambassadors visiting Pécs, the Decide with us! participatory budget, Civil Selfie (and we must have forgotten some of them now)
• Our BeFogadó/InnClusive community space in Balokány Park is still open to our members and the citizens of Pécs with programs, discussions and trainings.
• We educate ourselves and build relationships, we also attend trainings, conferences, discussions, partner meetings.
• We had a fantastic time with Style for everyone! fashion show, which was partly organized by us. Such a fashion show is sure to be needed, where models with disabilities show their beauty, at the same time joining forces and encouraging cooperation between companies and shops of Pécs.
• The Barrier-Free Tourism Day in Orfű (near Pécs) was not missed this year either. We continue to be organizers, members of the organizing committee and enthusiastic participants of the national event.
• We work with young people, give lectures, welcome university students, help write theses.
• We go to concerts, exhibitions, fashion shows, festivals….

Do you like what we do? Come with us, get involved! Our Hidden City Tor-Tour, our BeFogadó/InnClusive community space, our projects are waiting for you… and so do we.😍 Become our member, let’s push the cart of 2024 together!
Contact us here: info@peoplefirst.hu
Check out the Projects, News and Barrier-free Pécs menus of our website, and of course the rest!

Happy New Year 2024! 🎉

There is a very clever form of support for NGOs, the https://adjukossze.hu/ run by NIOK. Here, registered civi organizations can launch various fundraising online campaigns, for which they receive all the support from NIOK.
If you click on the beautiful pink ADOMÁNYOZOK (DONATE) button on our website, you will be taken here too.

Every year, NIOK asks us to report on the progress and results, which are automatically received by donors through the button. After all, it is important not only to receive, but also to give – news, reports on how and for what we used the generous help.

Here we tell you what we have achieved in 2022 with the help of the ADOMÁNYOZOK (DONATE) button, i.e. Adjukössze, where our Barrier-free Pécs and Hidden City Tor-Tour projects are supported. (https://peoplefirst.hu/en/projects/)

Thank you here and we are counting on you in the future!

We started a smooth road

For us, a smooth road is primarily an barrier-free road 🙂

A lot has happened in 2022 that gives us cause for hope. We continue to work on social inclusion, primarily on broadening and understanding accessibility. We continue to see that Hungarian society is helpful, but there is a huge lack of information. Our job is to plug this information hole.

Let’s see what we’ve been able to achieve in 2022, thanks to the Adjukössze Page and your support.

We were able to hold many Hidden City Tor-Tours in Pécs. (What is the Tor-Tour of the Hidden City?)
We consider this to be one of the best sensitizations, because instead of persuasion or lecture, we simply walk, talk cheerfully, tell exciting stories about Pécs, and give the opportunity to try out a wheelchair or white cane, that is, to understand what life with disabilities is like.

Among the 2022 Hidden City Walks, the visit to Pécs of the National Tourism Consultants stands out, who specifically wanted a Hidden City Walk with us.

It is important for us that the results of the Hidden City Walks were also recognized at the Civil Award event, as we reached the final of the event and stood proudly on stage (although rolling up there in a wheelchair was a Mount Everest experience).

In September, on the World Tourism Day, the city of Pécs ordered a public Hidden City tour from us, which we were very happy to hold.

We thought that if we already had such a well-established, useful project, we would distribute it. For the first time in our lives, we set out to write an international tender, where our association also assumes the coordinating role. So we started organizing the Visegrad Fund competition, in which we offer our Hidden City Tor-Tour as a best practice to Slovak and Polish partners.

We experienced similar excitement with our unique urban barrier-free database, the Barrier-free Pécs Database. (And what is the Barrier-free Pécs Database?)
A lot of positive things happened here as well, but we admit that maintaining, expanding and updating it is hard work and a constant challenge. We need constant supporters, as such a database cannot remain without care and expansion! 

Good news:
On our entire website, including in the database, we captioned all the pictures for our blind friends. We immediately created descriptions for pictures, photos and illustrations in three ways. We also involved our university and high school volunteers in this, for them it was certainly a lifelong sensitization.

We renewed our “sticker team” carrying out site excavations and made funding more transparent. We can still only pay HUF 3000 per person for each exploration, which is very little, and we admit that it is not really motivating, which is why we need your support. The people who carry out the exploration are people with disabilities, this is a source of education, work and money for them.

We’ve strengthened the support option on the Adjukössze page with a campaign called “Duplatét/Double Rate”. In this winning tender, we undertook to collect HUF 250,000 for the development of the Accessible Pécs Database. If the amount is collected, the tenderer will double this amount. And with you WE SUCCEEDED! 🙂
Thank you very much once again. Thus, we were able to discover new locations, update some older ones, update the IT side of the database.
I wish we had such a large amount of help every year, the database would improve greatly!

Good and moderately good news mixed:
We are constantly consulting and negotiating to find constant help in maintaining and developing the Barrier-free Pécs Database. Since we believe that this is primarily beneficial for Pécs, we contacted the City Hall and concluded a Cooperation Agreement with the city marketing and tourism departments in February 2022. We thought it was a big step forward!

As a result, we became an active participant in the Pécs Tourism Roundtable, where we are advocates of barrier-free tourism.

The Barrier-free Pécs Database has become part of the official website of the city of Pécs (https://pecs.hu/en/)

……. somehow we don’t get any further. We cannot hope for permanent financial support, and our accessibility signals are lost.
? What do you think we should do to find listening ears in local government and businesses?

But I don’t want to end with negative news. 🙂

Partnership is always one of the most important things for us, so it was a great pleasure that the Association for an Accessible Józsefváros Without Obstacles (Budapest) contacted us and we discussed how they could create a similar accessible database. Active, skillful organization, we hope it will come true!

We have launched an international People First network where we can talk about our common things and share our good ideas. Many People First organizations from all over the world have joined us! One of the good ideas is the city’s accessible database, which we will discuss at an international conference. Will you be with us?

Keep an eye on our Facebook page  (https://www.facebook.com/PeopleFirstHun) for updates, read our Website (https://peoplefirst.hu/en/ ) to get to know us better.

And if you can, see if you have some money in your account to help the accessibility. 🙂

Thank you for reading, thank you for being with us!
The People First team