These funds were distributed by competition to 20 diaspora physical activity initiatives.
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The largest possible support amount – 10 thousand euros – went to the British Lithuanian Sports Association, which organizes the British Lithuanian Sports Games.
Among the initiatives that received the most funds is also the Colorado Lithuanian school project in the USA “Healthy Lifestyle and Creativity Camp,” which was allocated 9.9 thousand euros for implementation.
Significant support – 8.5 thousand euros – will be received by the Greek Lithuanian community project “Moving Together: Lithuanian Sports and Community Days of Greece and Cyprus 2026,” 8.2 thousand euros was allocated for the first padel tournament of the Spanish Lithuanian community, and 7.8 thousand euros for the Irish Lithuanian community family sports festival.
Funds will also be received by initiatives of Lithuanian communities in Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Spain, the USA, the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Sweden, and Germany.
The money will be used for renting and purchasing sports facilities and equipment, event and participant insurance, branding, and purchasing small prizes.
Applications for the annual ministry competition could be submitted by foreign Lithuanian communities, sports or other non-governmental organizations, and Lithuanian schools.
When evaluating projects, the greatest attention was paid to how the planned activities will nurture Lithuanian identity, the involvement of community members in sports festivals and events, ensuring physical activity for community members of various age groups and experiences, and whether the continuity of planned activities is ensured.
In total, 27 sports projects from foreign Lithuanian communities and Lithuanian educational institutions applied for funding in this year’s competition, with their total requested funds exceeding 225 thousand euros.
According to the ministry, this year’s funding for foreign Lithuanian sports projects is more than twice as large – last year, 45.5 thousand euros was allocated for project implementation.
Lithuania also finances informal Lithuanian education projects of foreign Lithuanian schools. This year, 740 thousand euros were distributed to 109 educational projects.
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