No special needs summer camp in Gouvia yet again this year

Yet again this year there will be no summer camps in Gouvia for those with special needs. This is the fifth year running that these camps will not be operating. The Board of Directors of Corfu Association of Parents, Guardians, and Friends of People with Disabilities issued the following statement:

"The Board of Directors and the members of Corfu Association of Parents, Guardians, and Friends of People with Disabilities, as well as the youth of Melissa Special Needs Organisation note with sadness and disappointment that, for the fifth year running, the Gouvia camps will not be operating under the new Municipal Administration.

The disappointment is even greater because, on the one hand, there are the camping facilities available and adequate funding from the Ministry of Social Cohesion to the Municipality of Central Corfu with the intervention of the Panhellenic Federation of Parent Associations of People with Disabilities. On the other hand, there was a prior collaboration between the president of the Association, Spyros Zouboulidis, and the responsible Deputy Mayor, Spyros Neratzis, who was informed about the process of implementing the state camping programme, its problems, and the operation of the camps in other municipalities. However, we have not received any update from Mr. Neratzis regarding the operation or not of the Gouvia camp, as the start date, which was July 15,  has passed.

Unfortunately, Central Corfu Municipality is the only municipality that cannot organise summer camps for people with disabilities, despite the sensitivity and experience of the new Mayor, Mr. Poulimenos, and the vigorous criticism directed by Mr. Neratzis towards the previous Municipal Administration last year.

Finally, our Association has been put in a difficult position with the parents of children with disabilities in Corfu, through no fault of its own, as it issued the call for interest for campers and escorts according to the relevant announcement and the information from Mr. Neratzis that the Gouvia camps would operate from July 15.

Our Association, as required, will report to both the responsible Ministry of Social Cohesion, which funded the camping programme, and the Panhellenic Federation of Parent Associations of People with Disabilities.

Best regards,

On behalf of the President

Alexandros Kyprianos (Vice-President)

Secretary

Maria Kontou"

VASSILIS PANTAZOPOULOS