Unlimited Sport for Everyone is a project initiated by an incredible Turkish Decathlon employee: Melis Basak.

Melis works at Decathlon Nautilus in Istanbul and is also a member of the Unlimited Sport Organization (SSD). The association aims to provide young blind people with an accessible and adapted sporting environment.

Unlimited Sport For Everyone is a project that aims to promote outdoor sports for marginalized and excluded people, for whom the practice of sport will boost their mental and physical capacities. The promoters of the project want to guarantee a safe environment for these disabled people and enable them to discover the sensations of kayaking, cycling, walking, swimming, yoga and many other disciplines besides! ??

Today, the Foundation's Board of Directors has decided to support this Turkish project, which would not have been possible without Melis's hard work and determination. Here's her story:

"When I started university, I got back into cycling, which was my favorite activity as a child. By joining cycling clubs and taking part in their rides, I got to know my bike better and met new people. At that time, I also tried the tandem. The tandem opened the door to new adventures, and thanks to the tandem, I made a lot of good friends. With one of these friends, we decided to tour Turkey on a tandem, which had been our dream for a long time...?

In May 2018, we started our 6-month cycling trip and covered 5 regions of Turkey. We traveled the Eastern, Southeastern, Mediterranean, Aegean and Marmara regions by tandem and bicycle. We called the project "My Pedal Friend".

During our trip, people with different disabilities cycled with us for periods of 10 to 15 days. We made contact with cycling clubs and NGOs working with disabled people to introduce the tandem to as many people as possible, and we started cycling with many people who were trying the tandem for the first time. ???

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Subsequently, in many Turkish cities, more and more people are riding tandems, and our actions are growing every day. 

I believe that, whatever their disability, all individuals have the right to practice a sport independently, without the need for an intermediary. I'm looking forward to reaching out to more people to share the joy of sport together with the help of the "Unlimited Sports for Everyone" project.Unlimited Sports for Everyone". "

Hand in hand, the Melis SSD association and Decathlon project leaders Ozgurai and Ali plan to organize year-round activities for the beneficiaries:

Each season includes canoeing, swimming, camping, yoga, cycling, pilates and dragon boating.

On behalf of the entire Foundation team, congratulations on your investment, and we look forward to discovering new projects with Turkey!

Unlimited Sport for Everyone is a project initiated by an incredible Turkish Decathlon collaborator: Melis Basak. Melis works at the Decathlon Nautilus in Istanbul and is also a member of the Unlimited Sport Organization (SSD). The aim of the association is to offer young blind people an accessible and adapted sports environment.

Unlimited Sport For Everyone is a project that aims to promote the practice of outdoor sports for marginalized and excluded people for whom the practice of sport will boost their mental and physical capacities. The project leaders want to guarantee a safe environment for these disabled people and allow them to discover the sensations of kayaking, cycling, walking, swimming, yoga and many other disciplines! ???

Today, the Board of Directors of the Foundation has decided to support this Turkish project and all this would not have been possible without Melis' work force and desire. Here is her story :

"When I started university, I got back into biking, which was my favorite childhood activity, as a mode of transportation. By joining bike clubs and participating in their rides I learned more about biking and met new people. Around this time I also tried tandem biking. Tandem biking opened the doors for new adventures and thanks to tandem biking I made many good friends. With one of these friends we decided to tour Turkey by tandem bike which was our dream for a long time.

In May 2018 we started our 6-month long bike journey that covered 5 regions of Turkey. We toured around Eastern, South-Eastern, Mediterranean, Aegean and Marmara Regions by a tandem and a single bike. We called the project My Pedal Friend.

During our journey, people with different disabilities pedaled with us for 10-15 day periods. We contacted the bike clubs and NGOs that work with people with disabilities to introduce tandem biking to more people and we started biking with many people who were trying tandem biking for the first time.

In May 2018 we started our 6-month long bike journey that covered 5 regions of Turkey. We toured around Eastern, South-Eastern, Mediterranean, Aegean and Marmara Regions by a tandem and a single bike. We called the project My Pedal Friend.

During our journey, people with different disabilities pedaled with us for 10-15 day periods. We contacted the bike clubs and NGOs that work with people with disabilities to introduce tandem biking to more people and we started biking with many people who were trying tandem biking for the first time.

(...)

As a result in many cities around Turkey now more people are tandem biking and our number is increasing day by day.

I believe that no matter what their disabilities are, all individuals have the right to participate in sports independently without needing a middleman. I cannot wait to reach out to more people to share the joy of doing sports together with the help of Unlimited Sports for Everyone project."

Hand in hand the SSD association of Melis and the project leaders at Decathlon Ozgurai and Ali have planned to organize activities throughout the year for the beneficiaries:

Each season there will be canoeing, swimming, camping, yoga, cycling, pilates and dragon boat activities.

On behalf of the entire Foundation team, congratulations on your investment and we look forward to discovering new projects with Turkey!