On 15 January, an adaptive sports and recreation complex START in Novoyavorivsk presented a mobile lift for safe swimming for people in wheelchairs.
Mykhailo Kuchma, coach of the START sports and recreation centre, says: “Nowadays, everyone is important in their place. As a rehabilitation therapist, I want to help our heroes overcome difficulties in restoring their physical health after being wounded. Water has very healing properties and helps in this difficult rehabilitation process.”
The opening of the adaptive club was made possible thanks to the contest “Time to Act, Unstoppable!”, which received grant support on a co-financing basis from the MHP-Community Charitable Foundation as part of the MHP Poruch military and veterans reintegration programme, the State Institution All-Ukrainian Centre for Physical Health “Sport for All”, with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine as part of the social project of the President of Ukraine “Active Parks – Locations of Healthy Ukraine”.
Yegor Alekseenko, Head of the Event Department of the State Institution “Sport for All”, said: “The creation of adaptive clubs is an opportunity for every veteran to resume physical activity, find support, feel their own strength and realise their potential. We are always ready to take into account the needs of veterans when planning and implementing this project. The opinion of veterans is our priority.”
FOC START is one of the 15 winners of the competition, which received grant support for the installation of a mobile lift on a co-financing basis.
Tetyana Valanchyus, Director of Zakhid-Agro MHP, Western Hub: “In the communities where our company operates, we are ready to respond to the needs of their residents. That’s why, as part of the MHP Next Door programme, we have also joined the support of the Time to Act, Unstoppable grant competition from our strategic partner, the MHP Community Foundation. Such spaces are an opportunity in small towns and villages to create conditions and opportunities for the adaptation of our veterans and military personnel returning to their homes. As the defenders themselves say, they are needed not only for training and keeping fit, but also for communicating with their comrades-in-arms.”
During the presentation, Mykhailo Kuchma, a trainer at the complex, held an open master class on functional training and showed the guests how to use the lift.
“Thanks to the concerned community members who applied for the Time to Act, Unstoppable competition, Novoyavorivsk now has such a club. Our Charitable Foundation and the MHP Poruch (MHP Next Door) programme to support the military, veterans and their families will always help develop such projects. After all, adaptive sport for veterans and people with disabilities is a key element of physical, psychological and social recovery,” says Volodymyr Panchenko, Head of the National Projects Implementation Department at MHP-Hromadske Charitable Foundation, .
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“Time to Act, Unstoppable!“ is a grant competition for communities that can receive up to UAH 400 thousand to create an adaptive club “Unstoppable” in their village or town.
The project is being implemented in 13 regions of Ukraine, namely: Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovs’k, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, Sumy, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Chernihiv regions and the city of Kyiv.
Project partners: MHP for Communities Charitable Foundation as part of the MHP Poruch reintegration programme for military and veterans, the State Institution All-Ukrainian Centre for Physical Health “Sport for All” as part of the Active Parks project of the President of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.
The project aims to create and equip sports centres in communities adapted for people with disabilities, including those with war-related disabilities, where they can engage in physical activity, communicate with like-minded people and receive professional support from qualified coaches, stimulating their reintegration into the social life of the community.