At the site of an old boiler room in Uzhgorod, there will be a modern sports and rehabilitation center for disabled

In Uzhgorod Press Club, there was a press conference on "The establishment of a modern sports and rehabilitation center for disabled."

In Uzhgorod, there are more than 5,000 persons with disabilities, of which only 60 people have opportunity to go in for sports. To solve this problem, the public, in collaboration with local authorities, plan to convert an ineffective abandoned boiler room in Uzhgorod into such a center.

Oleksandr Lyzanets, the head of the Transcarpathian regional center of the Ukrainian sports federation for disabled with lesions of the musculoskeletal apparatus said: "I have been working with people with disabilities for 3 years, we often organize various events, including nationwide ones. But the biggest problem is the lack of space, people with disabilities have no place to train in, and it is very necessary for rehabilitation.  Therefore, the City Council will hopefully give us the boiler room on Tykhy street, where we plan to open a sports rehabilitation center.

About 150 people will be training there. There will be table tennis, fencing, indoor soccer, power lifting. Disabled persons will be engaged not only in sports, the center will also host lessons, creative meetings. "It will be a general purpose institution for people with disabilities to spend time in. In addition to the gym, there will be massage rooms, changing rooms and facilities for the training process," – Oleksandr Martyniuk, the engineer providing the technical support to the project said.

Yaroslav Shafar, the Deputy Mayor of Uzhgorod commented: "This is indeed an interesting initiative from the organizations that deal with people with special needs. I saw something similar in Kosice, which we have recently signed a cooperation agreement with. There, they arranged a cultural center at the site of barracks. To implement the project, we need to exclude the boiler room in question from the list of the facilities that the City Hall plans to sell at the auction. Instead, we will rent it out for a nominal 1 hryvnia, and then find an investor for the repair and furnishing of the facilities."

Victor Shatrov, a member of the executive committee of Uzhgorod City Council added: "The City Council adopted a progressive decision on community initiatives. From now on, every problem of the city can be submitted for consideration by the Council, if it is supported by at least 50 residents. To do this, they need to register the initiative and to collect 50 signatures within a week. The relevant appeal on the sports and rehabilitation center is already registered. Sponsors or grantors will seriously consider any assistance, only if a room is available."

Oleksandr Peresolyak, the chairman of the Public Council at the Uzhhorod City Council noted that the presented project would be a significant step forward for the city: "For this purpose, the City Council should hold an open competition to enable investors invest money in the project. I hope that the City Council will support its oral intention with documents."

The Embassy of Japan in Ukraine is ready to become one of the first investors of the project. But, the city must provide 20% of the amount. They also hope that Swiss and Canadian donors will contribute.