Announcement of the annual program “Sports Paths”

Regeneration & Progress Press Release- We are pleased to announce that the Sports Paths program will continue on an annual basis for those islands that have responded positively to the conditions for their participation. These are Agios Efstratios, Kastelorizo, Lipsi and Tilos. From September 2018 to August 2019, a sports program will take place simultaneously on the four selected remote islands and will be implemented daily by specially trained physical education teachers who will be installed there for one year. The program is being implemented by the NGO “Regeneration & Progress”, under the scientific supervision of the 1st Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Athens University Medical School / 1st Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Athens University Medical School with an exclusive donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation / Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The donation is for one year and includes only those islands that meet the support requirements set by “A & P”. The continuation of the program is only possible if the participating islands continue to adhere to their participation conditions.
From 2015, 3-month winter and 3-week summer sports paths programs have taken place on 27 different islands. The success of such programs can only be achieved by the effective participation of the inhabitants, since the improvement of their daily life is the common component of all actions. The favorable development with regard to the future of the program confirms our firm belief that everything is feasible if the right goals are set and there is a desire to achieve them.
In the great challenges facing the inhabitants of Greece and especially the remote areas, we come to support within our potential. In this context, we plan and implement actions in the field of health, sport and education, with a view to improving the living conditions of our fellow citizens, and with a deeper goal of contributing to the change of attitudes that impede their overall development. Plato wisely expressed the relationship between thought, emotion and body. If the thought changes, the human entity is transformed. Progress is based precisely on cooperation, respect and will for improvement.
Furthermore, with the solid support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, whose main objective is the financial support of such initiatives, we are optimistic that the Sports Paths will have the expected real effect on children and adults as it will be conducted on an annual basis and will follow the perspective of its organic integration into the philosophy of local authorities.
The implementation of the program will begin in September 2018 and in the time it will last we hope that a favorable climate will be created for additional islands to show similar interest, which will be able to join in the future. The conditions for running the program over the long term are currently assessed as inappropriate for the remaining islands that had previously joined the program and their response to the conditions for participation was considered unsatisfactory. We are confident that both the equipment donated to the islands and the education provided all the times the program was implemented will be a staple for the future.
Finally, it should be stressed that it is necessary for all members of local societies, from the municipal authority and the collective bodies to the parents individually, to join forces in order to seek and achieve actions that will help to their development.