SPRINT - Kick off meeting in Suceava

From Thursday 1 to Sunday 4 March the Director of our Committee Roberto Rinaldi, together with Francesca Di Feo from the International branch, flew to Suceava for the kick-off meeting of the SPRINT project.

The latter is part of the Erasmus + Sport activities, a program of the European Union that aims, among the various objectives, to promote voluntary activities, social inclusion and equal opportunities in sport. The SPRINT is based on this theme, which sees the Committee as leader in collaboration with the Courage Foundation of Bulgaria, the Former State Fostered Children's Association of Hungary and the Asociatia Judeteana "Sportul Pentru Toti" Suceava of Romania. Precisely in Romania, to be precise in Bucovina, the project kick-off meeting took place, formally started on January 1st, and will last until June 2019. "SPRINT is above all the goal of integration, through sport , of children in conditions of social hardship, like the children welcomed in the institutes or in the family homes and those affected by mental handicap "explains Roberto Rinaldi. "During our stay in Bucovina we visited two different institutions. The first is a school of all levels, from elementary to technical schools, which welcomes young people aged 6 to 18 in semi-residence mode from Monday to Friday. Here, around 800 children with mental illness find assistance, some with serious illnesses, thanks to the presence of specialized personnel "Rinaldi continues. "The second structure is a rural institution. A sort of state orphanage that takes care of children and young people who have been taken away from families with a judicial sentence or who have been abandoned. We found 33 boys, aged between 3 and 24 years, including five brothers "continues the Director of the Committee, emphasizing the praiseworthy work of the volunteers of the structure. The intention of the Romanian partner is therefore to increase activities by focusing on these two realities. "We will provide the necessary tools, through the exchange of good practices, to allow the instructors to better carry out their activities within the institutes" concludes Rinaldi, noting the important role of sport as a vehicle for social emancipation. The next meeting, scheduled for June, will take place in Bulgaria.