AkzoNobel employees from Functional Chemicals in Herkenbosch have cleared up a large area of woodland in Heel to create a stimulating recreational area where disabled people can enjoy the local nature and explore the great outdoors.
More than half of the whole Functional Chemicals workforce in Herkenbosch gave up many of their weekends over a 4 month period to make this project such a success. The weekends were spent moving 1,000 m3 of sand, sawing and cleaning up trees, building a jetty and making all kinds of equipment for the park, including musical instruments.
The result is ‘Belevingsbos’ — or ‘Experience Park’ — where disabled people can now enjoy the wildlife and nature, fishing, theatre and views, all in beautiful surroundings which benefit from wheelchair access and specially made paths that make it all possible.
Hans Ruijten took the initiative for this extraordinary project. During the past 10 years he had been a volunteer at the Daelzicht Foundation which supports mentally disabled people. Hans noticed a distinct lack of outdoor environments that were accessible to these people — they were very much restricted to indoor activities.
A stroll in the woods is impossible because the paths are often not accessible. Most wheelchair users can only look at others having fun in a park and are unable to join in. Under the motto ‘healthy people have a thousand wishes, while sick people only have one’, he decided to do something about it and applied for support from the Community Program.
Before beginning the work in the woods, many months were spent investigating the possibilities, designing the recreational areas and developing a plan.
After receiving the green light for support from the Community Program, Hans started to recruit volunteers from Functional Chemicals. He was amazed to see how many employees and even retired colleagues were prepared to spend so much of their free time to carry out this ambitious project.
Full support was given by Site Management, allowing the volunteers to use company equipment and workshops to create musical equipment. The result was not just a beautiful park, but also an extraordinary team spirit that did not exist before.
When the ’Belevingsbos’ (experience park) was officially opened just before Christmas, some 1,600 kilometers had been driven to purchase the materials and equipment. Over 1,000 working hours had gone into creating the musical equipment and 2,250 m2 of sand paths had been created for wheelchair use. A lot of hard work also went into putting up 40 signs around the park.
The volunteers were also helped by disabled people themselves, and many materials suppliers offered additional services and use of equipment for free.
A family member of one of the inhabitants of Daelzicht even set up a special website www.belevingsbos.nl to encourage other disabled people in the province of Limburg to visit this beautiful spot. The number of hits in the first few weeks was stunning and confirmed that there is a great need for recreational outdoor facilities for disabled people.
The whole exercise and especially the result could have been a fairy tale and that was exactly the theme for the official opening in December. Elves, witches, fortune tellers and an entire Dickens choir welcomed the family members of the inhabitants of Daelzicht as well as many local officials and the entire volunteering force. They were complimented by Mike Tijdink, chairman of AkzoNobel Nederland, who officially declared the ‘Belevingsbos’ open.
When BU Manager Functional Chemicals, Bob Margevich, heard about this special initiative he included a walk through the Belevingsbos during his first visit to the site in February 2008.
He wrote: ‘I enjoyed a nice walk in the woods and was impressed with the enormous job that was realized. I appreciate very much the company’s contribution from the Community Program towards this very worthwhile project that has truly turned into a special place for some very special people in and around Heel.’