Lithuanian Frame Running Sport Association: We want to embrace change and bring it to our organization
Lithuanian Frame Running Sport Association Members Aušra Kriškovičienė and Rasa Narbutaitė Rudžionienė strengthen Their Abilities in Long-Term Training “NGO Academy. Social Leaders Program”.
Lithuanian Frame Running Sport Association (LTSA) promotes, develops and coordinates frame running sports in Lithuania. Frame running is a promising new sport for people with cerebral palsy, movement disorders, intellectual disabilities or other disabilities who have difficulty walking or cannot walk at all, but can still support themselves on their legs. A specially designed tricycle allows them to experience the joy of running and improve their physical health. We invite you to read about the organization’s mission and the experiences of its members at the NGO Academy.
– Rasa, Aušra, how would you introduce the Lithuanian Frame Running Sport Association to someone hearing about it for the first time?
The Lithuanian Tricycle Sports Association strives for equality for people with disabilities through physical activity and sport. Our organization’s mission is to popularize frame running in organizations for people with disabilities, develop frame running athletes, and strengthen the health and inclusion of people with physical disabilities. The association is based in Vilnius and unites eighteen organizations representing people with disabilities in eight Lithuanian counties.
– What brought you to the NGO Academy? What challenges did you come to address?
The desire to gain knowledge on how to find new, effective solutions that optimize work organization processes, create long-term value, financial sustainability and organizational strength prompted us to enrol the NVO Academy. The organization is still young, founded in 2018, but we have already achieved considerable victories and sporting successes. We have competences, but we see that they are too weak to operate in the rapidly changing world of innovation and technology. Therefore, the organization’s challenge in participating in the NVO Academy is to transform existing competences, strengthen them, and adapt them to new work methods. We also want to find ways to strengthen social capital – attract new people to the team, expand contacts and cooperation with other NGOs in Lithuania and abroad, and increase the motivation of the association’s members. We want to be open to changes and bring those changes to the organization as well, so that they help us fulfill our mission.
– Share what you have already learned at the NGO Academy? Were there any surprises?
The biggest surprise was the realization of what stage of activity the organization is currently at. We saw a clear picture of who the main beneficiaries of our activities are and what values we create. This picture came together from the details we meticulously searched for and developed in the Strategic Planning training module. This part of the training was both difficult and surprising and inspiring. By developing a strategic plan step-by-step, we identified the main directions for the transformation and strengthening of the organization. The Project Thinking module helped us understand and differentiate between two different concepts – project and application, which before the training seemed and were understood the same way. This was also a kind of discovery! We are very happy to have the opportunity to participate in the NGO Academy and we hope to successfully apply the knowledge gained to grow our organization.
