In Italy, 13 million people live with functional limitations of different degrees (source: ISTAT data 2015), and need constant rehabilitation treatments: among them, there are young people with stroke outcomes and a disability of Cerebral Palsy, for which Fightthestroke Foundation is in the front line since 2014. With the covid-19 emergency, which has affected our Region so severely, younger children risked to fall back in motor skills or to develop comorbidities due to this unexpected interruption of rehabilitation treatments.

During phase one of the emergency we opened a video communication channel #fightthevirus to continue to be next to our community and to offer remote counselling to people with severe disabilities, who at that time could not rely on clinical facilities in their area. But as the months went by, in compliance with all national and local regulations regarding social distancing, we felt the need to ensure a resumption of motor activities in the field.

The successful experience of our Intensive Rehabilitation Camps through Sport, dedicated to children with different degrees of motor impairment, was back again in 2020. The first edition of 2018 saw the participation of 16 children from all over the world, involving over 100 professionals in their role as tutors, supervisors, trainers, researchers, academics, innovators and parents: https://www.FightTheStroke.org/Mirrorable-camp. This experience was then followed by the launch of the Fight Camp in 2019 that welcomed another 20 children in a 'full body' sports training program, who were followed in an 1:1 approach by tutors and supervisors experienced in physiotherapy, neuro-psychomotor therapy of the developmental age, occupational therapy, adapted motor sciences.

THE FIRST RULE OF FIGHT CAMP IS: FIGHT AND SMILE.

Fight Camp 2020 edition has gone under the banner of our motto 'Fight and Smile': we wanted to continue to train the motor skills of children with disabilities, but with a more holistic vision than traditional intensive rehabilitation programs that focus on individual body districts; all children have followed a sports training program in which they learn disciplines such as athletics, artistic/acrobatic gym and climbing.

A unique opportunity also to experience a recreational sociality from which children with disabilities are normally excluded, especially during the summer, and to bring relief to families after a period of strong emotional loads: during the Camp young #fighters have the opportunity to experience moments of community life, train adaptability to rapid change and other 'changemaking skills' such as empathy, teamwork, shared leadership, problem solving, systemic thinking, creativity and curiosity.

Thanks to donations received from Fightthestroke previous years, we’ve been able to welcome up to 14 children free of charge at the Camp 2020 edition, who had to meet the criteria of homogeneity of the group, by age, sex, motor, cognitive and behavioural skills. 

These are the criteria for inclusion:

- Age: 6-12 years

- Diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy 

- Autonomy in daily life activities, adequate attentive and social skills

- Drug-controlled epilepsy

The program is intensive, so it’s important that the children are cooperative, physically fit and able to ensure participation throughout the week. All children will be filmed via photo/video to monitor their progress, both for scientific research and communication purposes. 

It’s fundamental the role of the tutor-volunteers coordinated by expert supervisors, to ensure individualized treatment for children and in line with the most advanced evidence in the motor rehabilitation of children with Cerebral Palsy: a training opportunity in one of the most dynamic Italian realities between the third sector, scientific research, social entrepreneurship and patient associations. Among the most sought-after curricula: studies in adapted motor sciences, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, neuro-psychomotor therapy of the developmental age, education sciences, biomedical engineering, pedagogy, psychology, medicine and other health professions.

The Fight Camp has taken place in semi-residential mode, from h9 to h17, from Monday till Sunday, in Milan, at the PlayMore facility in Via Moscova 26. This year the 14 participants have been divided into two groups of 7 children each. The activities have been designed in compliance with the hygienic and sanitary regulations set out in the municipal guidelines on the containment of the spread of the Sars-CoV2 virus.

These are the funds that we had to raise in order to offer the camp for free to 14 children from all over Italy and abroad: your donations throughout the year can contribute to sustain these expenses.

- Space rental: 10.000€

- Insurance: 3.000€

- Wall and climbing equipment: 5.000€

- Sports equipment: 2.000€

- T-shirts and gift bag: 2.000€

- Protective and sanitation equipment: 1.000€

- Photographic reportage: 1.000€

- Games for bimanual activities: 1.000€

Discover here how a Fight Camp can be powerful for your family