More than 70 participants play sports at Only Friends Twente
Since its inception in 2019, the Reggeborgh Foundation has supported Only Friends Twente. This is a sports club where people with disabilities play sports together every week. The mission is for everyone to be able to play sports, no matter what disability you have.
Learning to skate from pros
Only Friends provides adapted equipment and enthusiastic volunteers to guide the athletes. The club started 5 years ago in Rijssen and now has 70 participants aged between 8 and 52. More and more applications are coming in from surrounding municipalities and expansion plans are on the table.
Every day and evening, sports are played in various sports halls in and around Rijssen, Ommen and Almelo, including swimming. They have been training hard for the Special Olympics. As many as 13 Only Friends participants will compete in the various sports at the Special Olympics. The Reggeborgh Foundation is also one of the proud sponsors of this event.
Frame running is a big hit
On Saturday mornings, everyone is welcome to engage in various sports at the Rijssen athletics club. Invariably, around 25 participants attend. For 1.5 hours, they exercise with each other and have fun. A regular group of enthusiastic volunteers accompany the participants, sometimes one on one or in a group. Eduard Leusink of Only Friends explains: ‘Partly thanks to the Reggeborgh Foundation’s sponsorship, we were able to purchase a number of running frames, scooters and other equipment. One of our young participants aged 7 could not walk independently and used a walker. During the COVID-19 time, he used the race running frame at home and what a surprise we got when he no longer needed a walker and now competes fanatically on the athletics track every Saturday!’
Many young volunteers
Volunteers are very important for all sports clubs, and especially so for Only Friends. Eduard continued: ‘We’re lucky to have many young volunteers. We invest in training to provide the best possible training to the target group. All volunteers are given the opportunity to participate in various courses free of charge. It’s important that they know how to interact with participants. Only Friends is not only about sport; friendships are made for life here.’
Would you also like to volunteer at Only Friends Twente? Log on to www.onlyfriendstwente.nl.