THE Honiara Rotary Club (HRC) has donated wheelchairs for Para athlete’s trainings at the Solomon Islands National Institution of Sport (SINIS).
SINIS confirmed in a statement on Monday this week that HRC recently donated a total of four wheelchairs purposely for the Para athletes’ training at the SINIS.
The support was made through the Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment (RARE) program.
HRC was able to place an order for the wheelchairs with the Rotary International’s donation for Solomon Islands Para athletes.
Upon receiving the support from HRC, Solomon Islands National Paralympic Committee (SINPC) President Nihal Seneviratne thanked the Rotaract Club of Honiara SI for the donation.
Mr Seneviratne expressed the importance of wheelchairs in helping to ease para-athlete’s movements within their Daily Training Environment (DTE) at the High-Performance Centre.
He told Star Sports yesterday that he was indeed happy for the support given.
Mr Seneviratne said this was a timely support as some of his para-athletes are currently preparing for the Paris Olympic qualifiers later this year.
SINIS Executive Director Aaron Alsop on behalf of the High-Performance Centre also expressed gratefulness that an organisation like the Rotary understands the challenges that para-athletes face as athletes.
“Providing the wheelchairs that are worth thousands of dollars are something we would not be able to do on our own. We are very grateful for the support from Rotary and Rotaract Club of Honiara. It is very thoughtful and kind to consider the needs of our para-athletes and we know how difficult it is for you guys to get around [within SINIS]. So, to have these chairs that are purposely built for you guys is a blessing.
“Thank you again to Rotary and Rotaract Club of Honiara. We would like to express our appreciation to your committee for the work that you do. But also, we want to recognise the athletes for their commitment to training and bonuses like this just add more value to their training and preparations,” Mr Alsop was quoted saying by the SINIS Media.
By FLOYD TERRY JNR
Solomon Star, Honiara
