The Home at the foot of Žampach castle is a social facility of the Pardubice region – a home for handicapped people. The main objective of The Home is to provide permanent services according to the social services laws for social welfare for people with mental disorders who may also have physical or sensory disorder.

The mission statement of the institution is to arrange and provide services supporting the skills, leading to independence in every day life activities as well as self-sufficiency in decision making of personal matters.

The provided services also offer supported accommodation. For this reason The Home runs associated accommodation facilities – called “Houses on the hillside”, situated in local village areas for sharing the conditions of ordinary everyday life. In this type of accommodation, there is privacy (including separate sanitary facilities) for each inhabitant.

It also fulfils the life-valued ideals of people with mental disorders by supporting and integrating them into everyday life.

The Home also offers its clients single, double or more bed rooms, according to their interest and the seriousness and scope of his/her disorder.

A full range of meals in The Home is provided according to the proper laws and with consideration for the individual needs of the clients, including special diets. The clients are encouraged to be independent with diet choice and to take part in preparing and serving their own meals.

The Home at the foot of Žampach castle also offers compulsory education including pre-school.

One of the mission statements of The Home is to support the clients with job placement in various fields, to assist with labour-laws and appropriate remuneration.

The Home itself also offers the clients job opportunities in specialized centres working with ceramic clay and other natural materials, focusing on the production of aromatic candles and decorative things and producing mainly hand woven rugs, pillows, mats and accessories.

Other centres concentrate on the cultivation of fruits, vegetables and flowers all year long.

On the small animal farm, clients take care of different domestic animals, specializing in taking care of horses, which are used for hippotherapy.

Hippotherapy is a specific treatment involving horse-back riding and is used, upon request, by those clients with more serious health disorders.

Another specialized centre is – snoezelen centre, which specializes in activity-based social learning. Within its facilities, the clients can enjoy privacy and also benefit from musicotherapy, logopaedia (speechtherapy) and canisterapia.

The Home provides a wide range of other cultural, physical and leisure-time activities, where the participation is voluntary and depends on the interest and abilities of the clients.

The Home also runs and organizes the dancing group Ginko, working with canisterapia, who represent the institution through their public performances.

The Sport Club Radost Žampach is an officially registered club that is involved with institutions organizing The Special Olympic Games.

Social Counselling, Assistance in Claiming the Human Rights, Justified Claims and Personal Administration

The Home also provides social counselling, assistance in claiming the Rights, justified claims and personal administration, health care including nursing, rehabilitative and preventive care and arrangement of contacts within the social environment.

Places of Natural and Historical Values, used for Social Integration of the Clients

The Home at the foot of Žampach castle is a place with not only extraordinary historical and natural value, which is used for The Home activities, but it also serves as a modern social centre, with connections to various social services in the surrounding area. The care of these places of interest is an integral part of clients´ activities.

Further encouraging its clients to integrate with every day society and innovative construction and development of the institution itself, still remains the overall mission statement of the Home at the foot of Žampach.

In connection with the social-therapeutic activities, The Home runs the Internet Club and Tourist Information Centre (officially registered TIC in Pardubice region), which increase local tourism and use the skills of the clients, who are involved in their organization.

 The Žampach Arboretum is a protected cultural heritage site and is a legal member of the Union of Botanical Gardens in the Czech Republic. Approximately 500 plants and woody plants, which are easily identifiable through a provided information system and scenic tour, are grown and cultivated on 4 hectares of surrounding land.

Arrangement of Contacts Within the Social Environment

The Home is opened to public all year long and is a place hosting many famous cultural and physical activities.

The annual long distance hiking and cycling trip “Over three castles”, the Chateau Feast, the Summer Music Festival at the foot of Žampach castle, the National Wandering Ball Tournament, held in Dřevěnice u Jičína, the fair of Saint Bartholomew as well as the Christmas concerts and the live Nativity Scene performance along with other events and activities, all help fulfil the mission statement of this institution.

The exact dates of these activities are noted in The Home calendar on the web pages as well as in the offer of traditional activities of Pardubice region.

In 2007, the 40th anniversary of The Home foundation was celebrated. In 2008, the reconstruction of the main building is about to be completed.

Future development, perspectives and visions include not only investment projects focusing on evolution of and further humanization of already provided services, but also concentrate on changes in the requirements of the focus group and the range of services offered. According to the current inquiry, temporary services as well as supported accommodation outside Žampach village and social-therapeutic workshops should be further provided.

The services are provided to the inhabitants of EU countries in accordance with the valid laws of the Czech Republic and after proper application for and conclusion of the contract with this institution. The application form can be downloaded (www.uspza.cz) or claimed personally or in writing. The person becomes the applicant after the proper delivery of the application. Then the record into the Registry of Applicants follows.

Furthermore, the applicant has to meet the requirements provided by the laws for social welfare and internal guidelines of The Home.

The Czech Republic – Pardubice region

-          from Letohrad to west through Písečná village

-          from Žamberk to south through Písečná village

-          from Ústí nad Orlicí to north through Hnátnice village

-          from České Libchavy to east (junction from Ústí nad Orlicí – Vamberk direction)

Letohrad (6 km), Žamberk (5 km), Hnátnice (6 km), Ústí nad Orlicí (12 km)

Plan: GPS: 50°2'16.598"N, 16°25'52.702"E   block plan     aerial photograph