FC Zenit and Gazprom Pererabotka take stock of Norm of Life social project’s second season

On August 1, a press conference to sum up the results of the Norm of Life social initiative, which has been in progress for two years, was held at the Gazprom – Football Club Zenit training center.

Norm of Life is a program of regular assistance to people with severe disabilities who are under the care of the Perspektivy charity organization. The joint initiative of FC Zenit and Gazprom Pererabotka was launched in 2023. The key aim of the project is to raise awareness about inclusion and the ways of supporting people with special needs through regular donations. Charitable contributions make it possible for the persons under the care of Perspektivy to plan in the long term their further steps in various areas of work and live a fulfilling life to the maximum extent possible.

“We want to promote among our fans a more attentive attitude and tolerance towards people with special needs. It is a normal lifestyle to love sports, engage in creative activities and be able to communicate with each other, and this is also the norm for people with physical or mental challenges who live in care homes. This fact lies in the basis of the Norm of Life project implemented by us jointly with our partner and Perspektivy. The project helps challenged people to develop, find fellow thinkers and just feel safe in the atmosphere of friendship and support. It would be great if the donations to support these guys became regular, because helping others is also a norm of life,” said Sergey Semak, Head Coach of FC Zenit, at the press conference.

During the first season of the project, six events took place at the football club's fields and in the Normal Place art residence created with support from Gazprom Pererabotka. Taking part in the events were the players and coaches of the Zenit team together with the persons under the care of the Perspektivy organization and the Special Olympic Committee.

In the second season, an interactive site of the project was opened for fans of all ages and ranges of abilities at the Gazprom Arena stadium. In the days when the Russian champions play their home games, the site hosts inclusive master classes.

“For as many as six years already, our company has been implementing the Equals project, which is aimed at helping adults and children with special needs. Football Club Zenit joined our public activities two years ago. The social initiative gained new content, new significance and the new name, Norm of Life. As many as 250 people with special needs took part in the two seasons of the project, and over 10,000 fans have already visited the Normal Place space at Gazprom Arena. And this is just the beginning, because culture and creativity, sports in general and football, inclusion and regular help to those who need it are the norm of life,” said Yulia Mitrofanova, Head of the PR and Media Relations Service at Gazprom Pererabotka.

“Our project builds a kind of bridge from persons with special needs to the society: we tell other people about them, tell how unique they are and how to communicate with them in a right way. Ultimately, we want the persons under our care to be seen, first of all, as personalities, and not as someone with a diagnosis. Therefore, it is very important for us to promote the Norm of Life program and build the motivation to provide regular help. We are confident that help must become the norm of life and the basis for normalizing the life of people with disabilities who live in care homes,” added Svetlana Mamonova, GR Director of the St. Petersburg charity organization Perspektivy.

The press conference ended with a tour of Zenit's training ground. The persons under the care of the Perspektivy charity organization watched an open training session of Zenit's players and got autographs from their favorite players.