The school group of Moinhos da Arroja, in Odivelas, inaugurated last 24 January a new playing field, in a ceremony counting with the presence of the City Council president, Hugo Martins, the Luz Saúde CEO, Isabel Vaz, and the director-general of Entrepreneurs for Social Inclusion (EPIS), Diogo Simões Pereira. The playing field was offered by Hospital da Luz, when the Moinhos da Arroja school won, in March 2022, a futsal interschool tournament organized in the context of Luz Saúde Group’s social responsibility projects, in partnership with EPIS. The school, that didn’t have any facility of the kind, has now an all-new multisport equipment, with a flooring adequate to the practice of sport by children, as well as goals, basketball hoops, futsal, basketball and handball field lines, among other modalities. The inauguration of the new playing field, attended by a large number of the school community, occurred the best way possible: with a futsal match between a team of teachers and a team of students from Moinhos da Arroja school, and the kick-off was given by the footballer Léo Natel, striker from Casa Pia Atlético Clube, team that integrates the Bwin League. All the officials present in the ceremony highlighted the added value of this kind of equipment for the students: “It will allow us to mould the student profile on leaving schooling, in our case after the ninth grade. The students acquire more social skills at the level of sports, and also at the level of emotions”, stated Paulo Bernardo, director of Moinhos da Arroja School Group. “This is the humble contribution of Luz Saúde, at our scale, for we believe that sport is fundamental for children to grow healthy, and concerned with their health and wellbeing. When we hear kids saying ‘one day you will hear about us’, I think our mission is accomplished. And we just hope that we will definitely hear about them, in the future”, said Isabel Vaz. “This initiative shows that the public and private sectors, municipalities and enterprises can reach farther and act, especially in areas such as sport”, stated Hugo Martins, congratulating and complimenting Luz Saúde and partners for the venture. “Our hope is that there will be a second and a third Hospital da Luz interschool tournament. EPIS is ready to help and to build this cross-sectoral partnership, that is a great example of what should be done in Portugal”, said Diogo Simões Pereira, indicating the initiative as an example of cooperation between sectors, for the benefit of school communities, social inclusion related with sports, and mental welfare. Hospital da Luz Interschool Tournament involved 8 schools and 112 children In March 2022, Escola Básica Moinhos da Arroja was the big winner of the 1 st Hospital da Luz Interschool Tournament in futsal, where participated eight schools of the metropolitan region of Lisbon, involving 112 children of the second cycle of basic education, aged 11 and 12. Organized by Hospital da Luz in partnership with ADVITA (Association for the Development of New Initiatives for Life, IPSS) and the support of EPIS association, the event happened in the context of the programs to promote healthy lifestyles developed by Luz Saúde, this being a fundamental vector in its commitment of corporate sustainability near the community. The schools ranked in the top three – Moinhos da Arroja, Olaias and Alfornelos – also received material to support the classes of Physical Education, to be used by the whole school community.
