Just For Smiles interviewed on SRF1, click here :
For its second edition, the event will take place from 11:30 a.m. on September 7 at the following location:
Mönchhof am See Seestrasse 34, 8802 8802 Kilchberg
On this day, skippers will converge by boat on the Mönchhof am See quay and offer free sailing sessions!
Voluntary donations will be transferred by ZISC to Just for Smiles.
At Just for Smiles, we are thrilled to announce that we have launched initiatives at all our sites as part of future inclusion to advance the vision of an inclusive world! Visit our website to learn more and join this inspiring movement! #Inclusion #FutureInclusion #JustForSmiles
Access for all to all forms of leisure, a broader offering of popular sports: this is what can be expected from the work of Inclusion Handicap. The umbrella organization of disability groups has been pressuring Switzerland since it ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). But it will take time, as noted by Marc Moser, communications manager at Inclusion Handicap. Interview.
The CRPD was ratified by Switzerland back in 2014, but nothing has changed since then…
When it comes to the implementation of a Convention like the CRPD, which applies to all areas of life, three years is not very long. Already, at the federal and cantonal levels, it is clear that the Convention serves as a catalyst for the implementation of the rights of disabled persons. But of course, there is still much to be done, as Inclusion Handicap has shown in its first alternative report submitted to the UN Committee last August.
You have formulated political demands, what does this mean?
We hope to gradually achieve equal rights and independence for disabled persons. For example, we are actively involved in the National Disability Policy, whose goal is a comprehensive strategy for the implementation of the CRPD. Even though the interim report was disappointing, Inclusion Handicap is working for a progressive implementation of the Convention. It’s challenging work, since the Convention encompasses all areas of life—and thus most political domains. The CRPD involves many legal changes, and in this context, we represent the interests of disabled persons.
Autonomy for disabled persons even in the choice of leisure activities?
An independent life is the most important goal of the CRPD! Specifically, it demands the free choice of living arrangements (Art. 19), access to service benefits, and sufficient at-home assistance for disabled persons as needed. Article 30 requires equal access to all forms of leisure, which also encompasses sports. We have taken a strong position on this point in the alternative report and have embraced the demands of all provisions of the CRPD. Inclusion Handicap, among other things, demands that the offering of popular sports for disabled persons be expanded.
What is the next step for implementing this Convention?
We are tirelessly working on the national policy for the implementation of the CRPD. Regardless, the UN committee will judge in a few years how well Switzerland has implemented it. This should take a few more years, and the alternative report will be adjusted, if necessary, by then. We hope to give an additional impulse to the implementation of the Convention through the evaluation of Switzerland by the UN Committee.
Caption: An Inclusion Handicap report submitted to pressure Switzerland
He is nicknamed the Swiss Silver Bullet, the multi-medaled Swiss Paralympian and World Champion in para athletics Marcel Hug will be our prestigious patron at the Nuit des Neiges event on February 17th in Crans-Montana!
We are particularly thrilled to have this renowned athlete by our side. To join us and meet him, there are still a few spots available to attend the charitable evening Nuit des Neiges.
Information and registration: terence.wilsher@justforsmiles.ch or 079 240 53 36 and at www.nuitdesneiges.ch
The 2023 ski season starts today for our beneficiaries, who have already been waiting impatiently for it.
The 2023 ski season starts today and tomorrow for our beneficiaries in French and German-speaking Switzerland, children and adults who love the thrill of skiing, snowy landscapes and the great outdoors. We wish them a great season and lots of fun on the slopes of Switzerland and neighbouring France!
The steepest slopes are open to our beneficiaries thanks to the tandem and dual skis, which are piloted by qualified and specially trained ski instructors from the Swiss Ski School. These machines give them the opportunity to experience the thrill of skiing on the slopes.
Safety and comfort
The ingenious tandem ski with its unique tilting movement allows people with multiple disabilities to experience these days of escape in complete safety and comfort. The same is true of the piloted dual ski, which also allows you to steer your own descent with a simple movement of the body or head.
The machines are also specially designed to take chairlifts without difficulty. And thanks to Just for Smiles, the infrastructure of the ski resorts is adapted to be easily accessible to our beneficiaries and their carers from institutions and associations. This is achieved through access platforms or ramps to the facilities, automatic doors, lifts, access gates to the lifts, etc.
More tracks for more inclusion
For almost 20 years, Just for Smiles has been creating the framework conditions to allow any person with a disability affiliated to an institution or association to ski. Our vision for inclusion and diversity is that one day everyone will be able to ski freely with family, friends, etc. To this end, Just for Smiles is working to expand the range of skiing opportunities on other slopes in the country.
If you would like to contribute to our vision, you can support us with a donation. For example, with CHF 75 you can donate one hour of tandemskiing. And CHF 450 will offer two people a day in the snow. (ew)
The sportsmen and women of the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) organised a charity evening in favour of Just for Smiles and raised a nice sum.
Last November, in collaboration with the EHL Sustainability Committee, the rugby team of the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) organised a charity evening in favour of Just for Smiles. Last night, the students handed over a cheque for the generous sum of CHF 4510 to our foundation.
THANK YOU!
It was also an opportunity for us to present our activities and our mission to the students of the Ecole hôtelière: to offer emotion and escape and, of course, smiles, to “our” people – the participants with multiple disabilities in the leisure activities that our foundation makes accessible to them. On their behalf, we would like to say a big THANK YOU! to EHL Rugby and the EHL Sustainability Committee. (ew)
The cheque from the fundraising event on the four Alemannic lakes was handed to Just for Smiles in Zurich at the end of November.
LAKERlDE, une organisation suisse alémanique à but non lucratif qui propose chaque année en été une journée de sorties en bateau à moteur aux personnes en situation de handicap ou à mobilité réduite, avait consacré cette année sa collecte de fonds aux activités voile de Just for Smiles.
Cette belle initiative, qui s’est déroulée le 28 août sur quatre lacs de Suisse alémanique, a permis de récolter un total de 10’255 CHF. C’est donc tout naturellement que la remise du chèque correspondant aux dons récoltés par les responsables de LAKERIDE a eue lieu sur l’eau, sur notre catamaran amarré à Zurich. (ew)
LAKERlDE, a Swiss-German non-profit organisation that offers a day of motorboat trips for people with disabilities or reduced mobility every year in the summer, had dedicated its fundraising this year to the sailing activities of Just for Smiles.
This great initiative, which took place on 28 August on four lakes in German-speaking Switzerland, raised 10255 CHF.
It was quite natural that the cheque corresponding to the donations collected by the LAKERIDE managers was handed over to our team on the water, on our catamaran moored in Zurich. (ew)
Photo: 20minutes.ch video screenshot
The presence of Just for Smiles at the Bol d’Or Mirabaud 2022 has aroused great interest in the French-speaking media.
Here are their interviews and reports (to see and hear by clicking on the names of the media) on our heartfelt partnership with the great regatta and the activities of our Foundation, which aim to promote diversity and the inclusion of people with reduced mobility and disability status.
- Emmanuelle Schatzmann, General Manager of Just for Smiles, was interviewed live on the activities of our foundation and its heartfelt partnership with the BOM 2022 as part of the RTS1 program Forum des idées on June 8th.
- 20 Minutes came to make a very eloquent report on the meeting of our “Junior Skippers”, Maeva and Antoine, with the double Olympic sailing champion Shirley Robertson (GB) and the women’s team of the Sailing Squad of the BOM 2022. A video shot on June 10 on our catamaran piloted by Corentin Francart (photo above), our skipper from Rolle.
- Our director also had the opportunity to talk about our activities live from the BOM Village on Radio Lac on June 11th.
- Télé Vaud – Fribourg also devoted a very lively report to one of the outings with our catamaran offered to our partner institutions and their beneficiaries during the Bol d’or Mirabaud 2022 weekend, on June 12th.
Sven and Thomas, both Nespresso employees and triathlon enthusiasts, have decided to undertake a great action: under the slogan “Run for Smiles”, they will run the Iron Man and use the opportunity to raise funds for Just for Smiles.
Sven and Thomas, after having qualified to participate in the Ironman World Championships, in Hawaii (6-8.10.2022) and Ironman 70.3, in St. George, Utah (USA, 28-29.10.2022), will use these competitions to support access to sport for all and in particular for people with disabilities. To this end, the two friends and collaborators of Nespresso have just launched a fundraising campaign in favor of Just for Smiles.
Donations open to the general public
This support of our sports and leisure activities for people with disabilities and reduced mobility is supported by Nespresso. The company will double each donation received to CHF 2,500. The fundraising is done with the colleagues of the two athletes, but also with the general public.
Whatever the amount donated, each donation counts. For example, with 30 CHF, you can offer an hour of sailing on one of our catamarans to one of our beneficiaries, as the two friends point out on the platform made available by Nestlé.
To participate in the fundraising and to follow the two athletes during the preparation of the competition and on site, it is HERE
We will of course keep you informed of the evolution of this fundraiser, which will last one month, and of the results that these two big-hearted athletes will achieve. And above all, we say a big THANK YOU! to Sven and Thomas for this generous action and wish them a great competition! (ew) (ew)
500 000
SEVERELY DISABLED PEOPLE IN SWITZERLAND
4 120
PARTICIPANTS IN OUR ACTIVITIES IN 2022
About the foundation
Gliding through the snow, riding the waves, taking in the fresh air of the great outdoors, experiencing the exhilaration of speed: Just for Smiles is a Foundation with a public interest status that gives children, teenagers and adults with restricted mobility the opportunity to enjoy all the excitation and freedom of outdoor activities.
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CH63 0483 5048 2364 2100 0
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10-789167-7
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