The City of Copenhagen and Table Tennis Denmark has made an agreement about introducing table tennis in elderly homes and in parcs in Copenhagen and the City of Copenhagen will give 1 million Danish kroners to make it possible for thousands of senior citizens to play table tennis in the Danish Capital.
More than 5 000 Danes in Copenhagen are diagnosed with Parkinsons and dementia. Table Tennis Denmark and the City of Copenhagen has agreed to collaborate and make it possible for thousands of senior citizens to play table tennis in the Danish capital.
The scientific research the recent years has documented that table tennis has a healthpromoting effect on seniors and especially their cognitive development. The research also shows that table tennis might have beneficial effects in the treatment of neurological disorders such as Parkinsons and dementia.
Mayor in Copenhagen Cecilia Lonning-Skovgaard and the Chairman of the board in Table Tennis Denmark Henrik VENDELBO are now taking the lead in initiating initiatives to promote activities for senior citizens and citizens in the municipality who have been diagnosed with Parkinsons and dementia.
Cecilia LONNING-SKOVGAARD speaks both as mayor of Employment and a former table tennis player. “I am pleased that we are now part of a collaboration together. I have played table tennis myself for many years and know that the sport is an ideal sport for our health especially the senior citizens in our city – I think we should get started as soon as possible”.
Henrik VENDELBO says: “I am so pleased that there is political focus on our sport and its good effects. We want to get many more people to play table tennis because we ourselves love the sport and its many opportunities. Our initiative with the City of Copenhagen now makes it possible for table tennis as a sport to provide an excellent supplement to the public health service to senior citizens with chronic illnesses. As a sports association we now take a clear health and social responsibility. It begins in Copenhagen. We expect to spread it to the rest of the country in the coming years”.
Facts
– A total of DKK 1.1 million DKK (150.000 euro) has been decidded in the City of Copenhagen’s financial budget for 2022/2023.
– In Denmark there are approx. 10 000 table tennis players.
– Table tennis is the World’s 7th largest sport measured by the number of supporters / fans (approx. 850 million)
