We held three working parties in 2026.
The first was in May at Brněnec in Moravia where we once again worked at 'Schindler’s Ark', the former textile factory where he saved his Jewish workers and which has now become a centre for understanding the Holocaust and for reconciliation.
A new project for us was at the small town of Rataje nad Sázavou near Prague. This was once a holiday destination for Czechs but the community has been affected by changing circumstances and its community facilities are threatened. The historic 15th-century former brewery, converted into a community centre in the Communist period, is now closed. But the plan is to reopen it and the working party cleared the building and started restoration work helped by local Czech volunteers.
We have held a number of working parties at Teplice nad Metují in north-eastern Moravia near the Polish border. In August this year we continued with construction work and once again we were joined by two hard-working architectural students from Venice University, Gianmarco Cattelan & Sebastiano Costa, seen in the photographs. They are the third group from the University to join us in order to gain practical experience. This has proved a very successful initiative which was first started as a result of a conference at Venice University in 2022.
Images © Maxine Webster
