Climbing to their hearts’ content

Climbing tower at the Ranis children’s and young people’s home funded by donations from Klumpp Präzisionswerk Pößneck.

The redesign of the outdoor area at the Ranis children’s and young people’s home is currently taking shape: a play tower some three metres high was lifted into position by crane a few days ago. At the opening the children were beside themselves with excitement and climbed the wooden tower, which has been designated the centrepiece of the course. It is intended to serve as a place to retreat to within the activity trail.

The playground designers led by Dirk Böhme, owner of the Saalfeld company Bau Werk 13, are currently putting the finishing touches to the site: a rope net beneath the tower inviting children to relax and daydream, a wooden walkway and further climbing ropes are still to come. “The entrance area and the wobbly bridges are still missing from the play and activity trail,” says Böhme. However, funding for the remaining items has not yet been finally settled, as the home’s manager Tommy Kleiber explains. He was confident that this would be resolved during the course of the year.

The tower was financed with donations from the Pößneck company Klumpp. In 2016 the firm handed over 10,000 euros to the children’s home, run by Diakonie Orlatal, and a further 5,000 euros the following year. “We have had close ties with the home since 2013,” says plant manager Ulrich Dluzak, who attended the opening of the tower. For the home’s tenth anniversary, he says, around ten children were once invited to the Pößneck plant. “The home has been close to our hearts ever since.” Dluzak left open whether a further donation would come from the company, since its annual contributions are spread across various organisations.

The idea for the activity trail came about more than a year ago with close involvement from the residents of the Ranis home. The three residential groups built models with Lego, modelling clay and cardboard according to their own ideas. From the individual elements and suggestions, the commissioned playground builder Böhme in turn designed a model, presented it to the young people in summer 2018 and struck exactly the right note. Manager Tommy Kleiber is also very pleased with the way it has been realised: “Cooperation between the builders and the young people is not something you can take for granted.”

With 26 places, the home on the edge of Ranis is fully occupied. Children and young people aged four to 17 live together in three residential groups. The home maintains good relations with the secondary and primary schools in the immediate neighbourhood. The residents come from a radius of around 100 kilometres, according to Kleiber.