The beginnings of the Workshops were not easy. Bolesławiec was a blank spot on the map of support for people with intellectual disabilities. The success and 15 years of activity are the result of teamwork. It is also the support of local authorities: the city and county authorities. That is why the words of thanks delivered by president Arkadiusz Żądło.
– I direct my thanks to the parents, volunteers and everyone who has supported our work over these years – said Arkadiusz Żądło. – I thank Mayor Piotr Roman for his tremendous support and help from the very beginning of WTZ’s operation. The mayor first made a building on Grunwaldzka Street available to us free of charge, and in 2015 provided renovated premises on 1000-lecia Avenue, where our headquarters are located today. I sincerely thank County Head Tomasz Gabrysiak and board member Stanisław Chwojnicki, with whom I have been working for almost 13 years. Your contribution and grants enable our beneficiaries to develop their interests and pursue self-fulfilment. I also thank the Szymański family, who support us every year – the president of the Association expressed his appreciation.
Congratulations were offered by County Head Tomasz Gabrysiak.
– Today it is difficult to imagine Bolesławiec without the Occupational Therapy Workshops – Gabrysiak said at the ceremony. – It is not only about the Workshops, but about the people who create them. This institution is built not by authorities or officials, but by an association. People of goodwill. People of goodwill who devote their time to do something good. I would like to thank all the municipalities for their support, because running the Workshops would be difficult without your support. As a county, we try to support the Association’s activities, and I can announce that in 2020, the 15th anniversary of the WTZ’s founding, we will secure funds to equip this unit further. Mayor Andrzej Dutkowski also declared his assistance. Our Workshops deserve to be the best-equipped workshops in Poland – the county head declared.
Piotr Roman stressed in his speech that one of the local government’s most important tasks is to support those most in need, and that this is precisely the role played by the Occupational Therapy Workshops, the community Self-Help Home, the Social Welfare Home, Dom Senior +, and institutions such as the Senior Council and the University of the Third Age.
– Creating institutions alone does not mean much when there are no people who believe it will work and establish lasting foundations for these places to operate – the mayor said. – There are many people present here today who knew what they wanted, believed in it, and later found a way to create such places and, most importantly, maintain them. I am very pleased that over 15 years the Workshops have developed so beautifully – Piotr Roman added.
The Zespół Pieśni i Tańca Ziemi Bolesławieckiej and participants of the Occupational Therapy Workshops prepared a short artistic program for those celebrating the fifteenth anniversary. The ceremony ended with the cutting of a cake and a celebration.