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Partnerships
Disabled Sports Fund Seacon Blue
As a company, we have become successful through the engagement of people in our environment, which is why we want to give something back to our society. On our Seacon Blue page, we share stories of some of our great partnerships. Here we talk to Nike Boor (Director of the Disabled Sports Fund), Rico Gielen (Sales & Marketing Manager, Seacon Logistics) and Anita Keunen-Huys (Sales & Marketing Assistant, Seacon Logistics).
“It's great that we're able to support multiple activities at the same time under a single fund, and make a contribution to disabled sports in that way."
Rico Gielen Manager Sales & Marketing
Story
"In the Netherlands there are 1.7 million people with a disability. For these people, sport isn't always an obvious choice. The Disabled Sports Fund is committed to making it an option for them," Nike begins his story. "We aim to ensure that all athletes who have a physical, intellectual or sensory disability have the opportunity to find a sport close to home, whether at the recreational or professional level. Our common goal is to make sure nobody's left on the sidelines. As far as we're concerned, by 2030 playing sport with a disability should be the most normal thing in the world. We want to achieve this in ways such as educating the Dutch public, attracting partners and financial resources, carrying out research, organising events, developing platforms, and increasing the range of disabled sports on offer by making subsidies available to sporting organisations and associations."
"Fortunately the range of parasports is constantly increasing. As the Disabled Sports Fund, we're committed to enabling people to take part in sports like paracycling, adaptive riding, ParaHockey and para-athletics. We also travel the country with our educational project (S)Cool on Wheels. We show primary and secondary school students what it's like to live with a disability, in a fun and entertaining way. To enable people to play sport close to home, we started the project 'Uniek Sporten' in 2017. It is the online sport community, and allows users to easily find a suitable sport in their own region. Users can also borrow sporting equipment, take online fitness classes (from May 2021), and start their own crowdfunding campaigns. Match funders (businesses that support a specific activity or campaign) can also support national or local projects. After 2021 the ability to find sport buddies and to organise transport will be added too. We want to give everyone the feeling of freedom, independence and strength. That's why we look at what is possible. This is also the subject of our national online campaign. Five athletes with a disability tell their inspiring story, with the purpose being: a PowerTalk for a PowerTikkie [donation]. A great message that we're keen to share with the whole of the Netherlands."
"Seacon has been a partner of the Disabled Sports Fund since 2007. It started with general sponsorship, and since 2009 we've been a proud 1% Fair Share partner," Rico says about the partnership. "Back then the first contact was made at VVV-Venlo's business club, where Hai Berden (Seacon's owner and founder) met Nike Boor through a mutual connection. Through the Disabled Sports Fund and based on 1% Fair Share, we're able to make decisions about how to spend our money based on wishes and even on regions. It originally started with supporting top Limburg athletes, such as Desiree Vranken from Roermond (wheelchair racing), Sharon Walraven from Brunssum (tennis), and Paul Ramakers from Born (handcycling). We also enabled (S)Cool on Wheels for schools in the region, we helped put para-athletics on the menu at Scopias Atletiek, and we sponsored combined driving competitions and VVV-Venlo's para-football day. And there are lots of other great initiatives that we've helped to make reality. We also contribute to the Invictus Games and help clubs and associations via matchfunding. It's great that we're able to support multiple activities at the same time under a single fund, and make a contribution to disabled sports in that way."
"In 2019, we – along with various staff, business contacts and partners – facilitated runners from the Disabled Sports Fund to enable them to take part in the Venloop," Anita adds. "We're keen to create more synergy in the region, so we're working with the fund and with regional advisor Jan Gubbels to find ways to realise that. The para-football day at VVV-Venlo and the runners in the Venloop are good examples of what's already been achieved. As partners, we strengthen each other. Not only financially, but we also support the fund in putting disabled sports even more on the map in Limburg. It's fantastic to be able to contribute in this way." Nike adds: "At the Disabled Sports Fund, we're always thinking in terms of partnership. After all, as a company it's good to know what your money's being spent on, but also to be able to show that you're active in that field. I firmly believe that this is why our relationship with Seacon is such a strong and successful one."