GLAD 20 YEARS - Flipbook - Page 11
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employees
“From the very beginning, the main idea was to secure disabled people’s right to freedom of expression and meaningful employment,” says Mikkel Holmbäck while stressing that this remains Glad
Foundation’s core value.
Thus, the aim was – and is - to run TV-Glad as any other workplace. In order to produce, the
station needed employees. Negotiations with both municipality and county were met with tons of
sympathy, and little else. It was difficult to actually do the paperwork needed to screen applicants
for the jobs. Subsidies for procurement of equipment trickled in through ad hoc applications for
funding; the first year was without a stable financial foundation.
“The county turned us down. The municipality granted us six special need employees. We were
basically run by long-term unemployed and volunteers. Everyone showed an enormous will for the
project to succeed,” reminisces Henrik Marentius. Mikkel Holmbäck adds: “A lot of people have been
incredibly supportive. TV-Glad owes them massive thanks. Many have gone on with their lives, but
quite a few are actually still here.”
One is TV-Glad’s cultural reporter Thomas Novotny: “Because I had another job, I started out here
as a volunteer. I really wanted to somehow engage in culture, and Henrik and Mikkel were the sort
of guys who’d say, ‘Okay, let’s do it. What do you want to do?’ and then we just started.” He became
anchor on ‘Novotny’s Corner’ where he interviewed all the celebrities who adored his unpredictable
interviews.
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