Glada Hudik Teatern is a theater in which the ensemble consists of actors with developmental disabilities. The theater group was established in 1966 with the ambition of increasing opportunities for people with learning disabilities to live independent lives and to play meaningful roles in society. Glada Hudik Teatern has produced a large number of crowd-pleasing shows over the years, and its largest production and greatest success so far is also its latest – Elvis. The show received outstanding reviews after its premiere in 2005 and has been performed on the group’s home stage in Hudiksvall as well as at Circus in Stockholm to a total of more than 50,000 people.
 

Living is for everyone
Personal contact, individual adaptation and development are key elements of Glada Hudik Teatern. The scripts and shows are adapted to the actors’ individual abilities in order to create a dynamic ensemble that communicates successfully, not only within the group but also with its audience. Ericsson is determined to enable communication between all kinds of people and the company’s core values harmonize perfectly with the spirit of Glada Hudik Teatern. We sponsor the theater’s Swedish tour, as well as its leader’s lectures on leadership – thus participating in spreading the message of Glada Hudik Teatern, which tells us that life can be lived to its fullest by everyone.

Lars Magnus Ericsson, the founder of our company, was born on May 5, 1846, on a small farm in Värmskog in the middle of Sweden. Ericsson was a frail child and soon discovered that he had neither the disposition nor strength for farm work. At the age of 21 he traveled to Stockholm and took the first major step toward a career that would establish him as one of Sweden’s industrial giants. He soon found work at an electro-mechanical company and in 1876 he opened his own workshop. More than 130 years later, that workshop has turned into one of the world’s leading telecommunication companies. Meanwhile, the birthplace of Lars Magnus Ericsson was acquired by the local homestead foundation in Värmskog in 1955. Six years later the homestead was converted into a museum dedicated to the memory of Ericsson and his great work within the field of telecommunication. The homestead and museum are managed by the Värmskog Homestead Foundation.

Nurturing the legacy of our founder
Ericsson’s continuing traditions of imaginative engineering, superior craftsmanship and widespread international operations owe their origins to the company’s founder, Lars Magnus Ericsson. It is a great honor for us to support the Värmskog Homestead Foundation in its work of preserving and presenting the legacy of one of Sweden’s greatest industrialists. We are specifically involved in making the Lars Magnus Ericsson Birthplace accessible for everyone. We assist in improving the museum’s accessibility for the disabled, for instance, by sponsoring the installation of a wheelchair ramp.

The Swedish National Association of Sports for the Disabled organizes sports for people with various disabilities. The association was founded in 1969 and includes 450 clubs and 40,000 members of whom about 25,000 are active in sports. The Paralympics is the disabled sports association’s equivalent of the Olympic Games and draws almost 4,000 disabled athletes from around the world. The Swedish National Association of Sports for the Disabled usually musters a strong team for the Paralympics. At the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece, the Swedish disabled athletes won a total of 21 medals. The next summer Paralympics will take place in 2008 in Beijing, China, in close connection to the Olympic Games.

Disabled is just a word
Ericsson believes that everyone, whether disabled or not, is able to contribute to society. And we believe that we can bring people closer through communication and thereby increase the acceptance of differences. Supporting the Swedish Paralympic team allows us to participate in breaking down the walls of prejudice and making the world aware of the fact that the disabled are more than able. Ericsson sponsors the team’s participation in the Paralympics and provides everyone with mobile communication solutions. This makes it possible for all participants to have their own blog before, under and after the games.
 
Follow their blogs via this link: www.handikappidrott.se