Weiding Sports Club Receives “Bridge Builders” Award for Bavarian-Czech Cooperation

District administrator Thomas Ebeling, chairman of Bavaria-Boehmia eV, opened the festive event in the CeBB. In her speech on the border region, Consul General Ivana Červenková acknowledged that she was the “driver of Czech-Bavarian relations” and stressed: “Not to stand still, but to constantly give the German-Czech exchange new content”.

“Closeness, peace and security across borders cannot be taken for granted,” said Ambassador Andreas Künne in his speech. In the Czech Republic, however, the Federal Republic of Germany has a partner who shares the same values. The border area is a laboratory for cooperation that goes far beyond what can be achieved at the state level. “Good examples and mutual inspiration are the best way to break down prejudices, barriers and inhibitions,” said Tomáš Jelínek, Managing Director of the German-Czech Future Fund, underlining the idea of ​​the “Bridge Builder” award ceremony. The Centrum Bavaria Bohemia accompanies new initiatives for the Bavarian-Czech cultural exchange.

The Weiding sports club from the Schwandorf district is now one of the award winners. The proximity to care facilities for people with mental disabilities and mental illnesses inspired the management of the association to start working together in 2005. Since 2016, this has been expanded across borders to include Czech institutions. Supported by the German-Czech Future Fund and accompanied by the Centrum Bavaria Bohemia, the cooperation at the joint sports and games festival was continuously expanded with 370 participants. Under the leadership of Josef Hellerbrand and Engelbert Horn, the people of Weiding would like to intensify contacts with social institutions in the neighboring country. The togetherness of the Bavarian and Bohemian sides was presented to those present in a short film.

The “Bridge Builders” award, sponsored by the German-Czech Future Fund (DTZF) and the district of Schwandorf, honors the tireless and mostly voluntary work of those involved. The patronage of the event was in the hands of the OVEG (Ostbayerische Verwertungs- und Energieproduktionsgesellschaft mbH). The representative glass prize cups were provided by the Schönsee company Irlbacher Blickpunkt Glas GmbH.