Journalists, representatives of various associations, stakeholders, sector operators, from Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania. It was certainly a very varied – and numerous – group that met on Tuesday 25 October in the Conference Room of the Atlantic Hotel in Borgaro Torinese for the final meeting and for the final Press Conference relating to the European HOSPITALITY project.
The project saw the UISP Ciriè Settimo Chivasso Committee as a partner, together with the Courage Foundation associations from Bulgaria, Rijeka Sport from Croatia and Scout Society from Romania, with the MeetLab association as leader. During the Press Conference, the associations introduced themselves, illustrating the activities they deal with and subsequently focusing on what was achieved in the context of the project. One of the main objectives of HOSPITALITY was to promote and encourage participation in physical activities for people with intellectual disabilities and personality disorders, through the use of courses that have developed a method aimed at promoting well-being – both in physical and psychological terms- of these subjects using gentle gymnastics and Mindfulness relaxation. The various partners have also focused heavily on integration, albeit in different ways: the UISP Ciriè Settimo Chivasso Committee and MeetLab have in fact opened the courses to family, friends and caregivers of the interested parties, while others, such as Scout Society, have chosen to also involve external people.
“Our work is not yet completely concluded -commented the president of the Territorial Committee Ferruccio Valzano- because in these last months that separate us from the arrival of the new year we will have to take care of concluding the Manual of Good Practices, in which the data obtained from the evaluation of the subjects before and after the courses. This will allow us not only to strengthen a cooperation network with the partners who have participated in the project, but also to create a guide that can also be used in other European countries”. There will also be a rich gallery of images and videos relating to the activities carried out. In addition to the Manual, the UISP Ciriè Settimo Chivasso, together with the MeetLab instructors, is continuing the activities related to HOSPITALITY with the collaboration of the “La Rugiada” Cooperative. A slight postponement due to the many difficulties encountered by this project in progress: officially started in January 2021, it suffered a sharp slowdown already in its first months due to the strict government restrictions in order to contain the CoVid-19 pandemic.
“The groups could be made up of no more than four people: two people with disabilities, an instructor and an educator. A problem that has not only been encountered in Italy, but also in the other partner countries. This therefore prompted us to ask for a 6-month extension, approved by the European Commission” underlined the president of MeetLab Roberto Rinaldi. Among those who attended the Press Conference, also the Head of Health Promotion of the ASL TO4, dr. Giorgio Bellan, who has shown to be very interested in the results – at the moment still partial – obtained by HOSPITALITY.