Èbbene – Catania – Fondazione Milan

The programme includes a number of initiatives aimed at promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in the world of sport and society in general.

THE PROJECT

The Sport for All programme includes a series of initiatives aimed at encouraging the inclusion of people with disabilities in the world of sport and, more generally, in society. Few people with disabilities have the opportunity to practice any kind of sport, and thus enjoy the psychological, physical and relational benefits that derive from it. For this reason, Sport for All is committed to making the sports offer open to all, without distinctions or barriers of any kind, through integrated sports activities that allow people with different characteristics to take the field to have fun and grow together.

The initiative has been extended to the city of Catania thanks to the collaboration with the Èbbene Fondazione, an organisation that for years has been committed to promoting new forms of civic participation, raising people’s awareness of sensitive issues and improving the living conditions of their communities, and in particular of those who find themselves in situations of hardship and social exclusion. The project has a strong youth vocation, as it aims to offer football and sports dance courses to children and young people with different social backgrounds and degrees of ability, using sport to promote integration and growth.

PURPOSES

The initiative comes to life at the Spazio 47 educational centre, housed in the premises of Fondazione Stella Polare, a reference point for Etna’s working-class district of San Cristoforo. This is one of the poorest and most degraded areas of the city, with high rates of illiteracy, crime, often among young people, and a general lack of recreational and cultural spaces. The population, and in particular the youngest, are often placed in contexts of social and economic hardship, in which the absence of educational and cultural stimuli leads to a progressive distancing from the world of school. The lack of meeting spaces dedicated to educational, sporting and recreational activities makes it difficult for young people to socialise and, above all, to integrate those with any kind of disability.

In order to give a concrete answer to the needs and shortcomings of the children, the Èbbene Fondazione and the Fondazione Milan are committed to offering sports courses and extracurricular recreational activities, using sport as an educational and integration tool for minorities. If placed in a structured and positive context, children have the opportunity to rediscover their talents and their inclinations and to find the enthusiasm to face the path towards their goals with seriousness, dedication and spirit of sacrifice.

BENEFICIARIES

The main direct beneficiaries of the project are 30 minors with physical, psychic, sensory or intellectual disabilities, and/or young people in difficult conditions, reported by the Social Services or educational agencies in the area. It is therefore a heterogeneous group, in which diversity makes it possible not to “ghettoise” a group of people with similar characteristics, but on the contrary to create a virtuous exchange of experiences and life stories.

The indirect beneficiaries are the children’s families, as they have the opportunity to be assisted and accompanied in their educational role, and with them the entire community.