News of our exceptional support related to COVID19

Since the beginning of the first lockdown, the Decathlon Foundation has remained mobilized during the Covid19 crisis and has already supported nearly a hundred projects in France and abroad. These projects are aimed at our beneficiaries in fragile situations who have particularly suffered from the crisis, in order to enable them to engage in physical activities.

The Decathlon Foundation has supported several types of establishments: Hospitals, Ehpads, IMEs, associations for the homeless, isolated women, migrants, children from sensitive areas…

Today we have decided to highlight 4 associations that the Foundation supports during this period:

APEI Chambéry

“The Chambéry’s APEI is a recognized as an association of public utility which manages 17 establishments and services for children and adults with mental disabilities in the Grand Chambéry. Following COVID, our two balneotherapy centers have stopped their activity, we are considering reopening them because balneotherapy for the children and adults we accompany is an interlude of comfort and well-being, it reduces pain and anxiety, improves clinical condition and allows multi-sensory stimulation.”

Wearing a surgical mask is not advisable in swimming pool-type spaces, but the dependence of the people creates a constant and important physical proximity. The only means at our disposal is to equip our professionals with Decathlon snorkeling masks.

The Decathlon Foundation donated 50 Easybreath masks to enable the young people at the centre to continue balneotherapy.

Sentinel Ocean Alliance

This project enables young children in the suburb of Hout Bay near Cape Town to learn how to surf, swim and respect the oceans.

Testimony of Delphine, working at Decathlon for 16 years

“Hello ! I am Delphine, working for Decathlon for nearly 16 years. The first time I heard about our International Foundation, it was 12 years ago, when Decathlon Foundation sponsored a sport project in China where I was used to live a long time ago. Since then, I had the chance to attend a Foundation Council to support an incredible equitherapy project developed in Romania. After that, I had the chance to live and work in South-Africa where I strengthened my convictions that we are definitively not equal in terms of sport accessibility and that Decathlon can definitely play a big role by tackling the sport accessibility inequalities. There, I met Frank Solomon, a South-African professional surfer, who published a video to support the street surfers cleaning the streets in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Digging into his social actions, I discovered that Frank created an association, https://sentineloceanalliance.org/ (SOA), founded to create Ocean based opportunities for the disadvantage youth of Hout Bay, in Cape Town. Basically, he started to teach to the kids from the townships how to surf. From there, he launched cleaning beach action, associating the kids so they can learn how to protect the ocean. Right now, 200 disadvantage kids benefits from his action and his next step is to teach all of them how to swim, in order for them to surf in security but also to make some of them become lifeguard offering them a possible future in this country strongly affected by the economical crisis.

I fell in love and deeply connected with SOA spirit and actions, promoting the values of sport and the necessity of environmental protection.

I am very happy that Decathlon Foundation could support SOA during this Covid crisis. “

Humanity Diaspo

This project makes fight against hygienic precariousness and to support women victims of violence in the Paris region.

Testimony of Rana, founder of Humanity Diaspo

“We are fighting against hygienic and menstrual precariousness among homeless migrants, refugees, precarious mothers and women victims of domestic violence.

For a month now, about a hundred isolated minors have been sleeping in tents in the Jules Ferry square in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.

Associations such as Les Midis du Mie and volunteers take turns to accompany and support these young people who live in very precarious sanitary conditions.

We wanted to support these young people by offering them all backpacks, water bottles, towels, hygiene products and hydro-alcoholic gel.

This emergency and solidarity action was made possible thanks to the support of the Decathlon Foundation & L’Oréal Paris Foundations and our donors, whom we thank for their commitment.

Thanks to Les Midis du Mie who facilitated this distribution”.

LP4Y, India, Philippines

LP4Y trains excluded Youth to become Entrepreneurs of their lives. Via the Professional Training for Entrepreneurs, an educational program offered in the Life Project Centers such as the Green Villages, they develop professional skills and know-how, and gain self‐confidence in order to find a decent job that suits them.

Following the Covid19 crisis, LP4Y and its beneficiaries approached the Decathlon Foundation to maintain sports sessions in communities and develop their actions in new geographical areas in need.

The Foundation team

19 November 2020

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