“Race Towards Happiness”: 10 children with special needs from Kazan received special bicycles

A 250-meter-long race was held in the Gorkinsko-Ometievsky forest.

(KZN.RU, September 11, Alena Miroshnichenko). 10 Kazan children with disabilities have become owners of specialized bicycles. Solemn presentation of unusual vehicles took place in the Gorkinsko-Ometievsky forest. The event was timed to the autumn bike race “Race Towards Happiness” (Rus. “Naperegonki so Schastiem”), the number of participants of which increases from year to year.

For the third time, Kazan hosts the cycling competitions for children with special needs. By tradition, some participants receive gifts that radically change their life: new bicycles for people with disabilities. Special tricycles have a reinforced metal structure and allow you to securely fix your hands, feet and back to avoid falls. Natalia Gilyazeva, the director of the Charity Fund “Alpari”, noted that the wards of the foundation are in dire need of exercise bikes for the rehabilitation of children. “We have collected lists of those who need them, and now we gradually realize the dreams of the children. But we give them not just exercycles, but bicycles, which can be transformed into exercycles. They can be used at any time of year”, said Natalia Gilyazeva.

Last year, 4 children received specialized bicycles. This year, there are already 10 guys, thanks to the participation of sponsors. Albert Mukhametshin, the deputy of the State Council of the RT, Rustem Gafarov, the head of the Sovetsky district’s administration of Kazan, deputies of the Kazan City Duma Niyaz Giniyatov, Alexander Polivin, Marat Shakirov, and Evgeny Chekashov, Airat Iskhakov, the director of the Kazan MUP “Passenger Motor Transportation Enterprise №4”, and Natalia Gilyazeva, the director of the Charity Fund “Alpari”, assisted them in acquiring specialized rehabilitation means.

And today the children who received gifts and already rode them, no longer wanted to go down and return to their strollers and armchairs. They happily continued movement through the park and became participants in the race on new bicycles.

Perhaps, the number of participants in the bike race is constantly growing thanks to such help. For example, 96 participants registered to participate in the competition for today's race; that is 30 more than last year. Children of different ages, starting from 3 years old, have passed the distance of 250 meters. But even such a distance is already a great deal for children with serious diseases and problems with coordination of movements, noted the organizers. For the first time, a bike race for special children was held in autumn 2017. Then 28 people took part in it. In May 2018, the number of participants was already 66 people.

In addition to the solemn ceremony and the race, a concert program was organized for pupils from boarding schools of the Sovetsky district and winners of festivals for children with disabilities “Vozmemsya Za Ruki, Druzya!”.

The organizers of the sporting event were the Charity Fund “Alpari” in conjunction with the Sovetsky district’s administration of Kazan and the club “Negonki” with the support of the ANO “Dobraya Kazan”.

Photo report

A bicycle race for children with special needs was held in the Gorkinsko-Ometievsky forest

Video report

12.09.2018 12:31