Her Excellency Susan Eckey, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to the Slovak Republic, visited the town of Spišská Belá. The Ambassador was officially welcomed by the mayor of the town, Ing. Mgr. Peter Zibura. The visit took place in connection with the successfully completed project “SpoluBližšie” (TogetherCloser), which was carried out thanks to support from the Norway Grants and the state budget of the Slovak Republic.

Inclusion and connection as the main goals

The project aimed to strengthen community life, support inclusion and create safe spaces for children and young people. The key contribution of the project is precisely connecting the majority with the Roma community and creating an environment where all residents have equal opportunities for development and mutual understanding.

Over the course of the project we managed to:

  • Build a community garden – This safe outdoor space next to the community centre has, for more than three years, served residents for meeting up, relaxing and building neighbourly relationships.

  • Renovate the premises of the FACE CLUB youth club – The modernised facilities provide a safe place for informal leisure time and for the development of children and young people.

  • Complete the attic spaces of Pôjd – These spaces are used for non-formal and experiential education, coworking and inclusive activities, directly supporting the development of local talent.

How the visit went

The Ambassador toured the premises of FACE CLUB and Pôjd, where she met local volunteers. The tour showed the real contribution of the project to inclusion and to connecting communities in our town.

The town of Spišská Belá thanks Her Excellency for the visit and for her interest in our development. The meeting confirmed that investing in people and shared spaces makes sense and brings lasting results