We have launched an international project on a niche topic. On 13. December we held our first kick-off meeting with our German, Italian and Bulgarian partners in Berlin to discuss the tasks of starting the project.
First of all, we got to know each other, the activities of the various international organizations, their strengths, and the tasks undertaken in the project. We established a further work schedule and started working.

It will be a very exciting topic for our 3-year collaboration: the Soul Mate project will provide concrete support in preserving and strengthening mental health in the workplace for workers with disabilities. Of course, in close cooperation with employers.

We, the People First Association, basically provide the peer approach and experience in the project, and we will be the conscience of the project, constantly reminding of the principle of “Nothing about us without us”.

Here on our website you can read a little more about the Soul Mate project in the Projects menu: Soul Mate project
Follow us on Facebook, where we will keep you updated on the development of the project: https://www.facebook.com/PeopleFirstHun

Come with us for the Hidden City Tor-Tour on 3. December from 14.00!
We will meet at the mock-up on Széchenyi Square in Pécs, and now we will not go far. We tell you a little bit about the buildings standing in the square, and of course about their accessibility, we walk a circle, and then we look around the hilarious Christmas market in the square and see what can be achieved, eat, drink with a wheelchair, or as a blind person.

You can try all this yourself, because we will bring you a wheelchair, a white stick, “visually impairing” blurred glasses.
You haven’t done anything like that before! COME!

You can find out all about the event on Facebook:Hidden City Event

With the motto “Good for everyone”, we launched a series of campaigns as part of our “Double Bet” competition.

We know that Christmas is coming, household costs are rising, yet we try to rely on your good heart, as the purpose of our online campaign is fundraising.

What do we collect for?
Our association has been operating a city barrier-free database uniquely in the country since 2018, continuously developing it. You can access the Barrier-free Pécs database here on our website for free in Hungarian and English. We can help you with this to get to know and plan the truly accessible locations in Pécs and its surroundings. The online database of the sites explored so far can be accessed free of charge by clicking here: https://peoplefirst.hu/en/akadalymentes-pecs/

The professionally prepared, self-involved members of our so-called “sticker” team exploring the sites are working to develop this barrier-free environment in Pécs and its surroundings.

Although the database is available to you for free, exploring new locations and constantly updating existing ones costs us, of course.

With the current campaign, our goal is to collect 250.000 forints to finance this. This is the goal we have set and please help us make it happen!

Our sponsor is the Power of Humanity Foundation within the framework of the “Double Bet 2022” tender, our amount will be doubled if we manage to reach the HUF 250,000 goal by December 4. So support us!

How and where can you do it?
It is very easy to support us online with the amount of your choice on our website by clicking on the nice pink ADOMÁNYOZOK (means:DONATE) button: https://peoplefirst.hu/en/

Please pay attention to one thing if you support us:
be sure to include our motto “Good for everyone” in the personal message section to keep track of donations.
Thanks and gratitude!

Take part in the campaign with your story!
As part of the campaign, from 21. November to 4. December you can read every night on our Facebook page from an association member: Why is it good to live everyday life in an accessible environment?
If you have your own story on the subject, we are happy to read about it.
Write to us at info@peoplefirst.hu email (in English too), and we’ll post your story on Facebook. Or simply write in the comments under one of the Facebook posts. 🙂

In Hungary, every taxpayer can donate 1% of their personal income tax to an eligible NGO. Our association thanks for this year’s donations.

A special renewal general meeting was held by the People First Association on 2. October 2022. We felt that a nice sunny autumn Sunday morning was the best time for this event 🙂

The two most important topics of the General Assembly were the renewal of the management and the initiation of the public benefit organisation status registration procedure. Both require an amendment to the statutes, which is the exclusive competence of the General Assembly.
On both priority topics, a three-quarter unanimous decision was taken by the General Assembly – that is, the membership of the association present.

For the next 5 years the People First Association will be led by the following presidency:
Veronika Pataki President
Gergő Berkes Vice-President
Roland Balogh Secretary
Hilda Kerekes Member of the Board
Zoltán Borsodi Member of the Board

We held an employee sensitization on September 22. for the market inspectors and security service of the recently opened Pécs Market Hall.

The purpose of the informative discussion, initiated by the People First Association and held together with several of our partners, was to give employees an insight into how to help and how not to help customers with disabilities, what accessibility means and who cares about accessibility.

We would like to thank the participating employees and the management of the Market Hall for the openness with which they received the information of the following participating organizations: People First Association “sticker” team, Baranya County Association for the Disabled, Baranya County Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and See the World through autistic Eyes Association.

It was a great feeling that a relaxed, friendly, interactive conversation developed, and at the end of the practical demonstration in the hall, we already had a huge laugh together.

The management of the Market Hall and the kind employees were also open to the continuation, where they will be able to get to know some of the disability groups in more depth.

The joint sensitization was one of the very joyful developments in the series of discussions initiated by the TASZ about the accessibility of Pécs.
The People First Association has always been thinking in partnership because that’s the only thing we consider to be expedient and truly effective in our efforts for the city and the community.

As the next step, the People First Association invited its partners to review each location according to their own criteria in our Accessible Pécs database, using the “Write reviews” rubric. After all, as with booking.com, opinions are often the most informative for readers.
We asked our partners to write with the intention of improving and briefly, formulating their own experiences, ideas and suggestions.

Review is open to everyone, we are happy to receive as many comments as possible about the sites in the database!

We held an intensive and active workshop on a niche topic on September 2. in Orfű at the Natúra Pension and Apartment House. We talked about the collaboration of ARTISTS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES with participants from both sides.

Following the opening ceremony of Zita Füziné Kajdy, mayor of Orfű, we heard informative lectures from university teachers in Pécs, Budapest and Szekszárd about accessibility.

Then the People First Association presented the international ARTcoWORKers project, which aims to stimulate the relationship between the artistic / creative world and people with disabilities.

It was very important for us to hear the ideas and opinions of those working in the creative industry and people with disabilities about the opportunities for cooperation, so we had world-changing discussions at small group roundtables (World Café) and an evening garden party.

Creativity could not be lacking in the workshop, we even played a shadow play with the lights on the phones.

Very good ideas, many new and expectedly fruitful acquaintances were born in Orfű on this day.

Soon, we will continue with the piloting of the ARTcoWORKers training, and an international small group online collaboration. We will crown all this next March in Pécs with an ARTcoWORKers international final conference!

Follow the developments of the ARTcoWORKers project on the project Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Artcoworkers/

We are waiting for everyone for a special workshop on 2. September in Orfű! We have been organizing related programs around the Barrier-free Tourism Day for years, this year we invite you here.

In a wonderful setting, we have a niche conversation about the relationship between art and disability.

We are very curious about your opinions and ideas at the workshop, so we provide an opportunity to do this in the framework of small group World Café discussions and a pleasant garden party.

Please be sure to indicate your participation at the info@peoplefirst.hu email address.

You can read the program here (in Hungarian):

The program poster for the VI. Barrier-free Tourism Day has been completed.

Everyone is welcome on 3. September from 10.00 to 16.00 for a special, inclusive festival, where people with disabilities and able bodied, old and young, so everyone can have fun together. Meanwhile, we offer experiences for people with disabilities that they can’t try anyway.

You can also read the detailed program on the festival’s page (in Hungarian): PROGRAMPOSTER

We can hardly believe it, but surely, for the sixth year in a row, the Barrier-Free Tourism Day will be held on Saturday, 3. September 2022 in the beautiful paradise near Pécs: Orfű. The annual event is organized by the People First Association with its co-partners – the Municipality of Orfű, the Gyeregyalog.hu Association, and Medvehagyma Ház. Its main goal is to achieve social inclusion by having fun together at a special festival for the able bodies and disabled people.

At the current festival special experiences have already been put together, which the majority of people with disabilities can only experience here. There will also be motorcycling, sailing and speedboating, dragon boating, driving a car for the visually impaired, fishing. You can also try a wide variety of sports, while all kinds of great cultural programs ensure an unforgettable atmosphere.

Follow the event’s website: https://akadalymentesnap.hu/ and current news on its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/turizmus.akadalymentes