Easier access to a castle garden using a new lift ramp

• Barrier-free access at Tuchořice Castle will link the common rooms with the garden surrounding the castle
• No harm done to the historic architecture of the building
• T-Mobile contributed CZK 100,000 to the project

Prague, 29 February 2008 -Tuchořice Castle in the Louny district in North Bohemia is surrounded by a vast, carefully maintained park which also includes a small zoo. However, some of the local residents - specifically the clients of the Social Care Home in Tuchořice - have not had easy access to it until now, as their movement is limited due to their age and health condition. Fortunately, they will soon be able to access the park much more easily thanks to a lift ramp.

"The new lift ramp for disabled people will make life significantly easier for clients of the social care home. Support for activities like this is exactly what the T­-Mobile Fund is mainly intended for," says Martina Kemrová, Senior Manager of Corporate Communication at T-­Mobile, adding: "That is why we contributed CZK 100,000 to this project, via the Community Foundation of Euroregion Labe."

Some of the social care home's current clients have lived in Tuchořice Castle since their childhood. The building has served as a social care home since 1970, when mentally disabled boys were first placed here. When they became adults, the institute was changed into a social care home for adult men. There are now 60 clients attended by 40 employees. Four of them have severe motor disabilities. "The average age of the residents of the institute is 47 years. As they grow older and their health deteriorates, the number of those that will need the lift ramp when visiting the park will grow," says Jana Poláková, assistant to the director of the social care home.

The lift ramp will be installed at the back of the castle, at the exit to the park surrounding the castle and next to rooms where the clients spend time together. One of the benefits of this placement is the fact that the ramp's installation will not disrupt the overall architectural character of the historic building. The supplier of the ramp equipment has recently been chosen based on a tender and the whole project should be finished by this summer.

"?Motion is life' is one of the mottos that we pursue while providing social services. And the older our clients are, the more this phrase holds true," says J. Poláková, adding: "That is why, in addition to providing social care, therapeutic help and education, we also place strong emphasis on sports and other activities involving physical exercise."

This is the third year that various projects have received financial contributions from the T-Mobile Fund. Funding set aside for the Louny district is managed by the Community Foundation of Euroregion Labe, which selected projects from among 119 applications from this area, distributing the total amount of CZK 1.7 million among 32 organizations.

More information is available from Jana Poláková, e-mail: usp.tuchorice@iol.cz, tel.: 415 725 092, www.usptuchorice.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).

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