On Thursday 15 February, the Quartucciu IPM hosted a Solidarity Day involving different sporting and social worlds, but marked by the same values.

The event, strongly supported by the Guarantor for Childhood and Adolescence of the Region of Sardiniarepresented the second action – after the Neighbourhood Cup – resulting from the Memorandum of Understanding signed last November between the Carlo Enrico Giulini Foundation and Dinamo Foundation: an important agreement aimed at implementing joint projects and initiatives for children.

Present at the event, along with the two Foundations, was a representative of the Cagliari Calcio – particularly involved in these initiatives because of the spirit of the ethical manifesto BeAsOne – with the Under-17 and Casteddu4Special athletes, and one from the Dinamo Sassari – in the name of mission “Ca Semus prus de unu giogu” -, with the youth teams, a Dinamo Lab athlete, Luca Gandini (first team) and Agnieszka Kaczmarczyk (Dinamo Women).

Football and basketball matches between ‘mixed’ teams, i.e. made up of male and female athletes from sports clubs and IPM youngsters, were played in the Institute’s outdoor field and gymnasium.

A morning characterised by sociability and friendship, with the sports competitions followed by the customary convivial moment with a buffet prepared by Chefs William Pitzalis and Tony Porseo and the unfailing pizza prepared by the Institute’s students.

These are the words of Carla Puligheddu, Garante per l’Infanzia e l’Adolescenza della Regione Sardegna: “I feel it is my duty to listen, to understand discomfort, to be a firm point of reference for young people and I have the pleasure of doing so, together with the Dinamo Foundation, the Carlo Enrico Giulini Foundation, Dinamo Sassari and Cagliari Calcio, at the IPM in Quartucciu, a place where, despite being deprived of freedom, everyone is offered a new chance. The promotion of the rights of under-age persons through sport, aimed at solidarity and inclusion, is in fact the common commitment throughout the region, starting with those who, more than others, need help to get back on their path with renewed awareness.”

Adds Enrico Zucca, Director of the Quartucciu IPM: “The Memorandum of Understanding, strongly desired by the Garante dell’Infanzia e dell’Adolescenza, Dr. Carla Puligheddu, and supported by the President of the Regional Council, only reinforces the cooperation that the two Foundations have been offering the Penal Institute for several years now with sports, training and recreational initiatives aimed at young inmates. The Solidarity Day is the right opportunity to allow the two Foundations, involving two of the most representative sports clubs at the regional level, the chance to enjoy a further experience of sport and sharing with the young inmates”.

So says Ilaria Nardi, President of the Giulini Foundation: “As was the case at Christmas with the day dedicated to chefs, we are once again present at IPM with a very special Solidarity Day. Together with Dr Puligheddu, Guarantor of Childhood and Adolescence of the Region of Sardinia, and the Dinamo Foundation, we want to reiterate the importance of sport as a tool for inclusion and education. The agreement signed with these two important actors is in fact the basis of a common message that we want to emphasise: sporting activity is a right for all minors and must be an opportunity for development, growth and fun for all of them. Once again, we would like to thank all the IPM staff, and in particular the Director, who every time offer us the opportunity to be part of this community of young people with the aim of building important moments of encounter and exchange”.

Antonio Tilocca, President of the Dinamo Foundation, closed: “It is a pleasure and an honour for us to take part in this day that represents the beginning of a collaboration with the Carlo Enrico Giulini Foundation, but at the same time marks a new stage in the friendship that binds the Dinamo Foundation to the Quartucciu IPM, with which we have already carried out numerous initiatives in recent years. Dinamo Sassari and Fondazione Dinamo, which have always been close to supporting the weakest and attentive to the needs of the area, strongly believe in the power of sport as a social aggregator and means of integration. And this is why we have married this initiative with conviction.”