HEPA Project: new adventure for our Committee

The arrival of summer has not only brought a rapid rise in temperatures, but for the Committee UISP Ciriè Settimo Chivasso it has also offered the opportunity to expand its experience within European Projects.

“Since we started dealing with planning outside the national borders -explained the Director and Head of these projects, Roberto Rinaldi- we have always dealt with Erasmus + Sport programmes, which include projects and a series of activities to be developed in over a year or two. After more than 15 years of experience in this field, we decided to join an Erasmus + Sport Events programme, focused instead on the realization of sporting events over a specific period of time. In this case, the project we have chosen to join takes the name of HEPA -Health, Engagement by Physical Activity- and is focused on the discipline of basketball. A program with a strong social inclusion impact, since able-bodied athletes are also supported by the presence of athletes in wheelchairs”. The inclusive value was certainly one of the reasons that prompted the Committee UISP Ciriè Settimo Chivasso to join the project, since integration is one of the core values of the Sports Promotion Body.

“Since this is a specific discipline - continued Rinaldi- we asked for the collaboration and involvement of one of our affiliated companies, Lo.Vi Basket, which together with FITime and Labor Volley also manages the Palazzetto dello Sport in Borgaro Torinese , where one of the four events planned by the project will take place in November. The others will be held in October and December 2023 and January 2024, respectively in the cities of Madrid, Lisbon and Thessaloniki. Through Lo.Vi Basket we also got in touch with the company HB UCIEP Turin, the only company in the Piedmontese capital and in the province to organize wheelchair basketball championships, which has joined the HEPA project". This interesting experience will be coordinated by the Portuguese association Plano B, while in addition to the UISP Ciriè Settimo Chivasso Committee, there will be a reality from Madrid and one from Thessaloniki, as well as the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Portugal who will take care of the communication.

Enthusiastic about this collaboration, the president of Lo.Vi Basket, Vito Ferrauto. “Thanks to the HEPA project, a delegation of our company made up of young people under 14 and 16 will fly to Madrid, Thessaloniki and Lisbon for a sports Erasmus. An experience that we didn't want to miss because we believe it will represent a unique experience for our athletes and all the staff, for a crazy cultural exchange! Without forgetting the important aspect of inclusion, thanks to the presence of wheelchair athletes. We are super happy to tell the emotions that we will experience in this new adventure not only in sport, but also and above all in life".