The international charitable organization Parimatch Foundation is gradually renewing sports and educational programs for Ukrainians. The foundation continues to involve different regions of Ukraine in its project. It focuses specifically on sports training and physical activity and helps overcome stress, and can become the basis for mental health stabilizing.
As part of the “New physical education” program, the Foundation purchased 200 sports sets with advanced equipment for the Western regions of Ukraine that shelter internally displaced persons, including numerous children. Each set includes gear for sports like football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, chess, checkers, and darts.
Some sports sets have been delivered to the Chernivtsi region. The Foundation team and representatives of the Chernivtsi Regional Military Administration visited educational institutions used as temporary shelters for internally displaced persons in Chernivtsi, met children, and made sports gifts for them. So now, children from Bukovyna and displaced children living in the Chernivtsi region will spend their free time more actively.
Since the first day of the war, the Chernivtsi region became a reliable shelter for Ukrainians forced to leave their homes due to the military invasion of Russia. This region partnered with the Parimatch Foundation as a part of the Help to Ukraine program.
– Currently, more than 20 000 internally displaced persons are in the region. Families with children have fled there. Now, we can provide not only humanitarian aid and food for these people but also organize their good leisure during the summer. Today IDPs will receive modern, powerful sports equipment. Having such equipment, children can adequately manage their activities, go in for different sports, and distract from everyday worries. When we do sports, we become more resilient, more robust, stable, that means we will win,
– Iryna Isopenko, Deputy Head of the Chernivtsi regional military administration, told about the initiative.
Thanks to modern sports equipment, children can spend their leisure time actively when training. And because of the variety of equipment, everyone can choose the game they like the most.
The Multidisciplinary Lyceum for gifted children is one of the educational institutions to have received the sports sets. Its director, Maryna Semanyuk, says that 64 children of internally displaced persons are currently based in the academy.
– In June, we already organized a sports camp that hosted local students and those who fled from other regions. The academy also has a gym with sports equipment, our training center, and several coaches and physical education teachers who work with children regularly and hold competitions. So the children were constantly engaged in various sports activities like swimming, basketball, football, and other sports. But, of course, sports equipment constantly needs updating. Therefore, we are very grateful to the Foundation for taking care of children’s leisure, as it occupies a central place in the lives of IDPs and their comfortable stay here. Therefore, such a contribution from the Parimatch Foundation is significant for us,
– Maryna Semanyuk said.
Parimatch Foundation’s “Help to Ukraine” program has been focused on helping evacuated children and providing people affected by the war with immediate needs: humanitarian and medical aid and psychological support. The Foundation has decided to gradually renew pre-war sports programs and create new projects to help speed up children’s mental and physical rehabilitation.
With the support of the Chernivtsi regional military administration, Parimatch Foundation plans to launch the “Sports Mentor” program in the region.
Sports Mentor is a comprehensive program that helps children, regardless of their social status, to develop self-confidence and physical and social skills through sports. Currently, the main goal of launching programs is to involve as many children as possible in sports, distract them from current events and help them recover psychologically.
