New edition of "Favourite places for everyone"
The successful investment programme for greater accessibility enters its second round - applications possible until 5 January 2015
It is often small changes that make access easier or even possible for people with limited mobility: A ramp at the entrance or a wider door can not only be an important help for a person in a wheelchair, they also make access easier for a family with a pushchair. And with an inductive hearing system, visitors who need a hearing aid can also follow an event. However, using every restaurant, going to the cinema without restrictions, visiting a museum or playing sport in a club is not yet equally possible for everyone, as many facilities are not accessible to wheelchair users, or at least only with difficulty, or cannot be used to their full extent. Information for the hearing and visually impaired, as well as people with learning difficulties, is often difficult or impossible to understand.
With this in mind, as Petra Liebetrau, Chemnitz's representative for the disabled, explains, the Free State of Saxony launched the accessibility investment programme in 2013 for 2014 under the motto "Favourite places for everyone" with a total funding amount of 2.5 million euros. The ambitious aim of the programme was to make access easier for people with disabilities and to turn exemplary facilities into their favourite places. The programme was aimed at cultural, leisure and educational facilities, as well as healthcare facilities such as doctors' surgeries. The aim was to support the removal of barriers by means of investment funding. This programme funded up to 100 percent of the construction costs if the project cost a maximum of 25,000 euros. For the first time, tradespeople as well as tenants or leaseholders were able to apply for funding from this programme if the building owner had agreed to the project. The city of Chemnitz was able to draw 176,500 euros from this funding pot and support almost 20 projects: the centre for the deaf, for example, received money to purchase a mobile, inductive hearing system and make it available for loan for events in Chemnitz. The Saphir dance community was able to use these funds to install a stair lift and thus enable its highly successful wheelchair dancers to access the dance and event rooms on the first floor of a car dealership.
According to Petra Liebetrau, there were a total of 50 applications for funding in Chemnitz in 2013/14. This makes it all the more pleasing that the Free State has already announced a new edition of the investment programme for 2015.
Contact and contact person:
Social welfare office, department for senior citizens and people with disabilities, local care authority, Ina Platzer, call 0371/488-5020, e-mail Ina.Platzer(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
City Planning Office, Urban Renewal Department, Coordination, Romy Ulbricht,
Phone 0371/488- 6042, e-mail Romy.Ulbricht(at)stadt-chemnitz.de.
Interested parties can obtain the necessary application form and further information from both departments.
Expert advice on the planning and implementation of building projects in connection with the "Favourite places for all" programme can be obtained from the Chemnitz Chamber of Crafts - information online at http://www.zukunftsfaehig-umbauen.de/kontakt.html
Applications will be accepted until 5 January 2015. All measures applied for will again be examined with the support of the Disability Advisory Council and the Disability Officer as required by the programme, prioritised and, with an oversubscription of the above-mentioned sum, become part of the municipal application to the Sächsische Aufbaubank.
Further information on the investment programme can be found on the website of the Saxon State Ministry for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection at www.soziales.sachsen.de/initiativprogramm