The end of the year is approaching and it is getting festive. Whether it be the tea or winter sports set – our Special Olympics Shop offers 7 exciting gift sets for which we combined various products. What's special about the sets: almost every product is handmade in workshops by people with disabilities – with passion, creativity and diligence. We've been working with some of the workshops for some time now. For the gift sets, a few other workshops have joint and we are very happy that their products are now available in the Special Olympics Shop.
Learn more about the five workshops whose products are part of our gift sets. On the linked websites you can find additional information.
Tailoring department of Union Sozialer Einrichtungen gemeinnützige GmbH
The Berlin company Union Sozialer Einrichtungen gGmbH (USE) offers people with disabilities and disadvantaged persons various work, education and employment possibilities. More than 1000 people with disabilities are currently employed at USE in over 30 different occupations. During day-to-day work the cooperation of people with and without disabilities plays an important role. Employees of the tailoring department produce individual and series products e. g. bags and aprons. For the Special Olympics Shop, the employees sewed the World Games logo onto the oven mitt, the beanies, the scarf and the multifunctional scarf.
Colorful candles made by Christophorus Werkstätten
The Christophorus Werkstätten also focus on vocational education and rehabilitation for people with disabilities. Anybody who cannot participate in the general labor market is welcome at Christophorus Werkstätten. The workshops offer a wide range of occupations – about 420 people with disabilities are employed in over 14 departments. Employees of the candle workshop design and craft candles and torches by hand. They create candles in different shapes, sizes and colors – and also take individual requests. Matching the World Games logo, they created two round candles with a bear design in purple and yellow. You can find them as part of a set as well as separately.
Soaps with World Games design made by WerkStadt Lebenshilfe Nürnberg
Two handmade soaps with a tangerine & clove scent and a mojito scent are also available in the shop – either separately or as part of a set. The high-quality soaps are made in the soap workshop BADELIEBE of WerkStadt Lebenshilfe Nürnberg from only natural ingredients . Besides production and sale, the employees take care of the packaging as well. For the Special Olympics Shop the employees stamped the World Games logo onto the soaps and wrapped them in environmentally-friendly paper with the World Games design. WerkStadt is a company of Lebenshilfe Nürnberg that offers various apprenticeship and employment opportunities next to the soap workshop BADELIEBE. Currently about 260 people with disabilities are employed at WerkStadt, e. g. in the book workshop BÜCHERKISTE or the arts workshop KUNSTRAUM.
On the left an employee of SeifenWerk is wrapping the soaps (Photo: BADELIEBE). On the right an employee of USE is sewing the World Games logo on the multifunctional scarf (Photo: USE, Union Sozialer Einrichtungen gGmbH).
Upcycled tree ornaments made by Lichtenberger Werkstätten
The Lichtenberger Werkstätten gemeinnützige GmbH is located in the Berlin district Lichtenberg and employs about 600 people with disabilitiesy in various occupations. 40 employees work in the arts and crafts department using wool, felt, paper and fabric to make every product by hand. Besides craft techniques, they also learn how to sell their products. They’ve already shown their skills and creativeness during the “upcycled bags” project with Special Olympics. Now the arts and crafts team created upcycled ornaments using the fleece fabric of the 2022 National Games onto which they also sewed the purple Special Olympics logo. The stockings and tree ornaments are available as a set of 8 or separately in any other set.
Organic, fair and inclusive – KarmaKollektiv
The organic herb tea and the organic cinnamon Ceylon by KarmaKollektiv are also part of the sets. KarmaKollektiv isn’t a workshop but a social ecological company based in Berlin. KarmaKollektiv focuses on inclusion of people with disabilities and food rescuing, while also supporting ecological projects. The online shop offers different teas, coffee and spices – all organic and traded fairly and directly from the farmers. People with disabilities fill up the raw materials and take care of vacuuming and labelling the reusable containers. People with disabilities also work in the KarmaKollektiv team, giving them an opportunity to participate in the general labor market. KarmaKollektiv supports the non-profit association of the same name with parts of its revenues, supporting inclusion and conservation projects.
From tea to soap – there is handwork, teamwork and heart behind every product. Would you like to experience working in an inclusive workshop yourself? Many workshops offer internships or opportunities for volunteering.
Get your gift set in the Special Olympics Shop!
Some products, such as the multifunctional cloth with the World Games logo or the soap, come as part of a set, but are also available separately. Nice to know: the price for the set is lower than the overall price if you were to buy every product of the set separately. On the gift collection page you can find all the sets as well as additional products of other Berlin workshops. Have fun gifting!
