The Alsviķi Trade School has received a special prize from the Citadele Bank, which is a partner in the Narvesen-organised youth project competition “A Day as an Adventure.” The prize relates to the centre’s project, which speaks to a special training field for young people with special needs.
The school’s proposal was declared to be one of the best ones in terms of supporting differently abled young people. The aim is to provide facilities for students to participate in sports and to engage in developmental exercises during their free time. The manager of the Gulbene Branch of the Citadele Bank, Inga Vanaga, presented the school with professional bocce ball equipment.
“Together with the Latvian Paralympic Committee, we want to help differently abled young people to become involved in sports and to become professionals in that regard,” says the director of the Citadele Bank’s Corporate Communications Division, Ieva Prauliņa. “Bocce ball is a Paralympic sport, and it is open to people with serious disabilities and for others. We hope that our equipment will make the everyday lives of students at the trade school more colourful, also opening up broader opportunities for them. Who knows? Perhaps someday one of them will become a Paralympic champion. Given the energy and ambitions of the school’s administrators and teachers, it is clear that the school will achieve a great deal, implementing many projects so that its students can constantly improve their talents.”
“The Alsviķi Trade School allows differently abled young people to learn a profession with new skills and experience that will help them throughout their lives,” says the deputy principal of the school, Astrīda Betere. “We do everything possible to help the young people to develop in mental and physical terms. The school didn’t receive enough votes to win the main prize, but we are proud of the prize that we have received and the commendation that comes with it. We will continue to work hard on ensuring that our students have a diversity of developmental opportunities.”
The teachers and students of the school gathered together in the school’s central hall to receive the prize and to perform several dances.
“The ‘Day as an Adventure’ competition speaks to young people and their organisations, encouraging them to take the initiative in defending their ideas and working to implement them,” says Narvesen Baltija board chairwoman and competition jury member Katrīne Judovica. “We are delighted that there are so many people in Latvia who have no lack of motivation. They’re even prepared to be concerned about the need to support young people who need a special approach so as to ensure an active lifestyle.”
The “Day as an Adventure” project competition is organised by Narvesen in partnership with the magazine Ieva and the Citadele Bank. The aim is to support the best initiatives in terms of facilitating active lifestyles among young people throughout Latvia. The competition was held from May 21 until August 8, with 41 applications being submitted. Narvesen provided financing of EUR 10,000 for each of the five ideas that were chosen as the best ones.