News and Highlights – Luzinha Children’s Park was created with the Covid-19 Recovery Support Fund

Within the scope of the Covid-19 Recovery Support Fund (FARC), created by the Municipality of Gaia to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic, there were many projects, works and activities that the municipality’s institutions were able to develop that, without this help , it would not be possible to achieve this without harming the normal management of its structures. One of them was the Luzinha Children’s Park, at Escola Básica do Meiral, in Canidelo. With a budget of around 36.5 thousand euros, made available by the municipality, it was possible to achieve an objective long desired by the school community, offering school children equipment with a swing, monkey game, merry-go-round, volleyball net, handball/futsal, among others. This structure covers the universe of 1st cycle students, that is, currently around 200 children.

“The Meiral school welcomes several children with special educational needs, with difficulty in social interaction often being a present situation. Motor and sensory issues are also clearly important, and, in this sense, having sports and leisure equipment is fundamental to the intellectual and motor development of these children, for relationships with peers and the promotion of inclusion – a fundamental vector for healthy and balanced growth”, can be read in the application presented by the parents’ association.

Given that the Meiral school did not have any playground equipment for 1st cycle students, but had all the conditions for its implementation in terms of space and safety, the parents’ association, in agreement with the group’s management, and coordination of the school, saw the opening of this application as a chance to fill this gap and contribute to the healthy and happy development of its children.

It should be remembered that the Covid-19 Recovery Support Fund (FARC) was aimed at Private Social Solidarity Institutions, schools and other local non-profit entities, which applied with ideas for works, projects or activities. The objective was to minimize the negative effects and financial sustainability caused by the covid-19 pandemic. Support was awarded upon submission of a sustained application. It was “extraordinary and non-repeatable support, which had the sole objective of minimizing the impacts of covid on associations and social institutions in the municipality”, says Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues, president of Vila Nova de Gaia City Council.