SRC to host sports gala

THE Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) together with a Gweru-based mental rehabilitation centre Queen of Peace, will this weekend host a mental health and awareness sports gala.

In an interview yesterday, Queen of Peace manager Ms Ellen Mukumba said Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Owen Ncube would grace the sports gala.

“We are going to have mental health and awareness sports gala on Saturday here in Gweru hosted by the Sports and Recreation Commission and Queen of Peace where all pupils from mental rehabilitation centres from the 10 provinces will come together to showcase their abilities through sports,” she said.

Ms Mukumba said they wanted to raise awareness of mental health and identify talent.

“We have noticed that only physically challenged people are accommodated in sporting activities through paralympics, and the mentally challenged are not given the platform hence, we saw an opportunity to offer them the chance to expose their talent in different sporting fields on the day,” she said.

She said they will have sporting disciplines like netball, soccer, volleyball, basketball and baseball with winners expected to walk away with a variety of prizes.

Ms Mukumba also said that mentally challenged people would get free medical services, and the services on offer include HIV counselling and testing, cancer screening and diabetes checks.

“Medical facilities will be present at the event to support us by offering medical help to these mentally challenged individuals, because it has been noted that a lot of them are neglected when others who are not challenged mentally or physically get free medical consultations time and again,” said Ms Mukumba