Hippotherapy helps disabled children at the Sluníčko Early Care Centre

• Snow White the pony helps heal and boost self-confidence of children with disabilities
• Entire families are involved in the therapy
• This year T-Mobile contributed CZK 100,000 to the program

Prague, 29 June 2009 - Disabled children from the Hradec Králové region have a special pal, Snow White the pony. During bad weather the children, as part of hippotherapy treatment, visit Snow White in the stable and talk with her. When the weather gets better, the pony gives the kids a healing ride in turn. Within the fourth annual T-Mobile Fund grant program, T-Mobile distributed in total CZK two million among projects from the Hradec Králové region, of which CZK 96,600 were donated for the hippotherapy program.

"The Sluníčko Early Care Centre has been running the hippotherapy program for three years now. The T-Mobile Fund has been a partner to the Sluníčko Centre ever since it started offering this service, this year contributing almost CZK 100,000 for rehabilitation of disabled children. Hippotherapy treatment, tailored to suit the needs of children with disabilities and supervised by a professional therapist, helps improve physical as well as mental condition of the children. Such activities are truly worth supporting," says Martina Kemrová, Senior Head of Corporate Communication at T-Mobile.

The hippotherapy program is regularly attended by ten children aged one to seven years, with physical, mental or combines disabilities. "The longer and more regularly the children attend the program, the better effect this treatment has," explains Martina Malíková, Director of the Sluníčko Centre. The rhythm of the horse walk copies that of the man and riding on horseback helps reduce muscular tension. Therefore a child with lower-body disability can in fact take a walk on horseback - from the waist up, the child walks on his own, "borrowing" the legs from the horse. In addition to physiotherapeutic benefits, this has a positive effect on the child's psyche. Hippotherapy is used mainly with children suffering from poliomyelitis, minor brain dysfunction, various muscular dysbalances, scoliosis, orthopaedic defects, respiratory problems etc. Hippotherapy also helps children recover speech, boost self-confidence and improve adaptability. "Therefore it supports the child's overall development. The newly acquired skills and abilities can be further enhanced by other activities that stimulate the child after finishing the hippotherapy program," adds Martina Malíková.

The Sluníčko Early Care Centre is part of the Regional Charity in Hradec Králové. It provides specialised care and consultancy services to families with children under seven years of age. The Sluníčko Centre has been gradually extending the offer of its services; the number of families from the Hradec Králové region receiving help from the centre has increased to 37 this year. Experts from the Sluníčko Centre regularly visit the families at their home, in the child's natural environment. "This is one of the basic principles of early care - free, specialised voluntary care should be supported by active participation of the families," says Martina Malíková.

Funding designated for the Hradec Králové region is administered by the VIA Foundation. Within the fourth annual T-Mobile Fund grant program, the VIA Foundation selected 36 projects out of 118 projects to receive a total amount of CZK two million.

More information is available from: Martina Malíková, e-mail: slunicko@hk.caritas.cz, phone: 777721642

web: www.hk.caritas.cz/ochhk

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.

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