As you already know, Arriva Milla! [Milla is Coming!] is a communication project conceived to explore the world of disability through the eyes of a little girl and to ignite the passion for sport in the hearts of the youngest children.
Well, Milla has taken a step further. On 23rd June at 18.00h at the Piazza Coperta di Biblioteca Salaborsa in Bologna, there will be a presentation of “Il Segreto di Milla” by Alberto Benchimol and Colomba Mazza, with drawings by Davide Baldoni (published by Centro Studi Erickson). The book was previewed at the Trento Film Festival on 2nd May and has already aroused great interest.
This is just the latest in a series of initiatives undertaken by Sportfund to disseminate the culture of inclusive sport. In 2020, for example, with the contribution deriving from the 5-per-thousand [an option on the income tax declaration], it financed part of the “SportAid” project, involving 130 children living in a state of poverty. Sport has proved, in difficult contexts of this kind, to be a powerful instrument for social inclusion, able to activate skills, strengthen people’s faith in their own capacities and create friendship.
Education and inclusion, therefore, are two key words. Let us see in more detail how Sportfund has operated so far.
Education
The project
Sportfund organises training and specialisation courses with the aim of introducing sports instructors throughout the country who are able to deal with people with disabilities. These include courses run in collaboration with UISP (Unione italiana sport per tutti) Bologna Territorial Committee and consulting services to train mountain professionals.
The training of instructors is a fundamental element, because only with the right skills will technicians be able to stimulate the abilities of their students and accommodate their specific requests, thus increasing the base of practitioners.
Oplà Fund
The project
OPLÀ!, SPORTFUND AND UISP FUND TO SUPPORT SPORT ACTIVITIES OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Sport activities can bring significant benefits to the health and social inclusion of children and young people with disabilities. At the same time, additional costs for aids and instructors can be an obstacle to the practice of sport for those living in fragile situations. This is why Sportfund and Uisp Bologna are working together to design free and equal spaces of movement through the establishment of the “Oplà! Sport is inclusion” fund. The fund, supported by Uisp Bologna and Sportfund’s sports and cultural initiatives and open to contributions from other bodies and citizens, is used to sustain sports projects in favour of children and young people with disabilities in our local area and to reduce the costs of participation in inclusive activities.
In order to increase the effectiveness of the fund, the economic share can also be used as a co-financing to participate in public tenders and private philanthropic bodies.
