Manama, June 27 (BNA). –Funds of the Walkathon event, organized by the Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) and the British Embassy in Bahrain a year after London had hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics and the Paralympics, was recently handed over to the RIA Centre.

The RIA Centre is originally designed to deal with the educational needs of children with Autism. It has expanded its enrollment programme to include students with other learning and social interaction difficulties.

BOC general secretary Abdulrahman Askar, along with British Ambassador to Bahrain Ross Dickson submitted the funds during their visit to the centre, where they also inspected the available facilities and were briefed on the services and care being provided for people with special needs.

On this occasion, Askar said that the Bahrain Olympic Committee pays significant attention towards people with special needs, proceeding from its partnership vision with various public and private institutions to launch a range of initiatives which is compatible with the policy of the BOC Board of Directors, chaired by HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, to harness sport to community service.

Askar added that the committee is will continue launching several more initiatives and charitable programs to promote its role in serving all segments of the society, especially those with special needs.

The BOC general secretary also expressed his pride for the collaboration with the British Embassy in any sporting event that aims to deliver a noble sport message to different Bahraini community sectors.

On his part, British Ambassador Ross Dickson stressed the importance of establishing such programs which support community service, adding that the Walkathon event has achieved the noble objectives of which it was found for.

He noted that the success of this event will push the embassy to adopt various programs that serve in the same direction, expressing delight for the joint cooperation between the committee and the embassy, ​​looking forward to more joint activities between the two parties in the future.

EM