The Olympic Dreams project, as part of "The Future for Children" Foundation, took part in the charity event "Let's bring sports back to children"
2023-04-05 17:56
One of the first events aimed at the implementation of the Memorandums signed by "The Future for Children" Charitable Foundation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Charitable Foundation "For Ukrainians", and the city government of Irpin was a charity evening dedicated to collecting funds for the restoration of the city's children's and youth sports school of Irpin.
Many benefactors, volunteers, government officials, people's deputies, diplomats, athletes, heads of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and NOC of Ukraine in the Kyiv region, representatives of leading Ukrainian brands and show business took part in the event "Let's bring sports back to children". Among them were the Olympic Dreams international sports camps project's ambassadors initiated by the Foundation.
"The work to preserve our Olympic reserve is the goal of the Olympic Dreams project," noted entrepreneur and philanthropist Anatoly Boyko, thanks to whom the project was started. - By restoring children's and youth sports schools and organizing international sports camps, we provide the opportunity for young Olympians to maintain a continuous training process and participate in competitions of the highest level."
Another group of young Ukrainian athletes is preparing for a new trip. For the second time, the athletes will continue their training as part of the Olympic Dreams project in the hospitable land of Cyprus with the support of the Kepaky Andreas Sofocleous Foundation.
"We don't know how long the war will last. But we have no right to stop life. Athletes should train, musicians should rehearse, and scientists should research and develop. Children and young people will soon build the country, so giving them a full opportunity to establish qualitatively right now is essential. That's why I'm glad to join such a good cause," said the Olympic Dreams ambassador, author and performer Dmytro Shurov (Pianoboy).
At the event, a plan for restoring a children's and youth sports school, an exhibition of paintings "Destroyed Irpin", and collections from leading Ukrainian brands were presented. In addition, a charity auction was held.
"The Irpin Children and Youth Sports School suffered a lot from enemy shelling. All that remains of the complex is one sports hall. As a result, more than 4 thousand children of Irpen lost the opportunity to play sports and maintain physical health. I believe that with joint efforts, we will rebuild The Irpin Children and Youth Sports School and return sports to children! Thank you to all the caring people who joined our initiative!" – the secretary of the Irpin City Council, Angela Makeeva, addressed.
"Sport does not forgive pauses," stressed world judo medalist Oleksandra Starkova, ambassador of the Olympic Dreams project. – That is why it is essential to preserve the sports nation to provide young people with the opportunity for professional activities, without interrupting even during the war. And already in the near future, we will see bright victories of our young Olympians!"
The Olympic Dreams international sports camps project was launched in the summer of 2022 with the support of the NOC of the Kyiv region, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Hellenic Republic and the personal initiative of Anatoly Boyko, a patron and co-founder of the NGO "IT education Development". The project's main goal is to support the country's Olympic reserve and provide young athletes from the affected regions of Ukraine with a safe training process in friendly neighbouring countries.
The result of the summer camp was 9 gold, 4 silver and 9 bronze medals for Ukrainian athletes, and after the camp they won 8 more medals at official international tournaments and 7 medals at Ukrainian championships.
In February 2023, another group of athletes trained on the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and joined the Cyprus International Judo Tournament 2023, in which more than 700 participants represented 8 countries worldwide. In five age categories, Ukrainian judokas, pupils of the Olympic College under the leadership of Honored Coach of Ukraine Karen Balayan and Coach Oleksandra Starkova, won 30 medals: 14 of which were gold, 10 silver and 6 bronze.