At the session of the Lviv City Council, a program was agreed to support servicemen participating in hostilities and family members of fallen defenders of Ukraine, according to which they will be able to visit fitness clubs in Lviv for free. The program will operate for the next two years – 2024 and 2025.
“We are launching a program to support servicemen participating in hostilities and family members of the dead to pay for services in Lviv fitness centers. The purpose of the program is to create favorable conditions for sports, because physical activity is one of the best ways of both physical and psychological rehabilitation. We have already established cooperation with the best and largest sports clubs to ensure accessibility to sports throughout the city,” says Anton Nikulin, head of Lviv’s sports department.
The mechanism of operation of the program will provide reimbursement of 100% of the total cost to certain categories of expenses for paying for the gym and/or its equivalent. This means that certain categories can come to the fitness club, where special monthly subscriptions will be valid for them, part of which is covered by the fitness clubs themselves. The other part is paid directly by military personnel or family members of fallen defenders, and at the end of the month, this amount is reimbursed to their social accounts by the sports department of the Lviv City Council.
As of now, cooperation has been established with the largest fitness centers in Lviv (SportLife, Bronx, Olymp, Three Elements) and more than 20 locations have been identified in different parts of Lviv to ensure accessibility in all areas of the city.
Participants of the program can become:
· military personnel who undergo military service in the military units of the Lviv City Territorial Community and are participants in hostilities;
· servicemen who were wounded and injured as a result of hostilities;
· military personnel who became persons with disabilities of the I-III groups as a result of hostilities;
· family members (except for children under the age of 18) of fallen defenders of Ukraine who died as a result of the performance of official duties in the war zone.
To receive compensation within the framework of this program, servicemen participating in hostilities and family members of fallen (deceased) defenders of Ukraine submit the following documents to the sports administration of the LMR through the National Center for National Defense of Ukraine:
1. Application for reimbursement of the established model.
2. A copy of all completed pages of the passport of a citizen of Ukraine.
3. A copy of the identification code.
4. Details of a card account opened in the institutions of authorized banks.
5. Confirming documents that they fall under the definition of a participant of this Program, who can receive reimbursement for the payment of fitness club services.
6. A copy of the contract concluded with the fitness club for the provision of services or another similar document.
7. Documents confirming receipt of services by servicemen participating in hostilities and family members of fallen (deceased) Defenders of Ukraine (cheque, receipt, statement, etc.).
It is important to note that the grounds for refusal to receive the services of fitness clubs within the framework of the program may be: the presence of open or healing wounds, the need for constant medical support or contraindications of doctors.