The first centre that provides complex services for people with spinal cord injuries celebrates its 20th anniversary. The Paraple Centre was founded in October 1994 by Zdeněk Svěrák, who was also the host at the celebration. Besides all the supporters of the centre, the Mayor of Prague Tomáš Hudeček came to congratulate the centre. “I appreciate all those who have decided to help others,“ he said, “At Prague City Hall, we try to do the same and that is why we have approved the plan of wheelchair accessible public transport for the next few years.“
At present, the Paraple Centre numbers 52 employees and 30 external workers on an area of over 2600 m2. The yearly budget reaches up to 30 million crowns. The services have been expanded to include the possibility of accommodation and a number of specialized counselling programmes that are used by 23 to 28 clients a day. For more information, visit www.paraple.cz (in Czech).