Tobolsk hosted a family rafting trip on the Demyanka River
5 august 2021
August 5 marked the end of a project titled The Family Trip. Two rafting trips down the Demyanka River in the Uvat District on July 19-25 and July 30-August 5 were made possible thanks to the Tobolsk Young Tourists' Station's winning a grant contest of SIBUR's Formula for Good Deeds social investment program.
The project’s aim is to promote the development of aquatic tourism among Tobolsk’s residents by organizing family tours along small rivers of Tyumen Oblast, popularize healthy living, and support volunteering in the sphere of tourist. The length of the route was 96 km and it took seven days to complete. Each of the rafting trips brought together 24 travelers.
It's wonderful that Tobolsk has the Formula for Good Deeds program. Many thanks to ZapSibNeftekhim for being such a society-centered company. We used our grant money to buy three new catamarans, three tents, two rainflies, and some hiking gear. It's really great to own brand new equipment! It is a real pleasure to sail in new, beautiful and reliable boats! We were blessed with the weather. We survived one nighttime thunderstorm hiding in our indomitable tents. And the next day, we managed to complete our trip near the old oil depot, dismantle the catamarans and get home safely before the second thunderstorm came down. We were especially happy to see that entire families could join our boating trip. There was everything that is so necessary to have on a boating trip: making new acquaintances, warmth of interpersonal communication, games, swimming, singing songs by the campfire, a unique smoke-flavored camping soup, satisfaction from having good work and good rest, Svetlana Nasonova, the project’s author, noted.
Our first trip turned out to be so great that we will now be dreaming about the catamarans, tents, and campfire for a long time to come! Thanks to everyone who was behind the project and cared about its future, who gathered the equipment and provisions, who instantaneously assumed the role of the group’s leader and everyone who was there for us all those seven days! I was glad to make new acquaintances and see old friends, Galina Tokareva, a participant of the boating trip, shared.
For us, the seven-day catamaran trip was a real test of endurance and teamwork skills. We were overwhelmed with adrenaline, excitement and a thirst for adventure. We experienced it all: fresh air, splashing of water under our paddles, fast-changing views on both banks of the river, swimming, fishing, songs sung to guitar music, bright campfire at night, smoke-flavored food from the canteen and a sweet sleep in the tent to the sounds of the nightly forest, Natalia Ivanova, a boating trip participant, commented.
The beauty and uniqueness of Tobolsk’s nature, its rich historical and cultural heritage, as well as ample opportunities for extreme tourism make tourism development a priority and a promising focus area for the economy of the city and of the region. Such projects should become growth drivers as they stimulate the development of active types of recreation, expand tourist routes and provide an opportunity to travel to places that cannot be reached on foot, Dzhamilya Akhmatova, leading specialist of ZapSibNeftekhim LLC's Government Relations Department, noted.
Background:
The Formula for Good Deeds, SIBUR's social investment program was launched on February 1, 2016, in all key cities where the company has a presence. It has been focusing on six key areas that address the most important social issues such as urban development, education and science, sports and healthy living, environmental protection, culture, and volunteering.
In 2016-2021, 781 projects in nineteen cities emerged as grant competitions’ winners. The grants’ funds have been used to repair and rebuild social facilities, improve and beautify parks and other public spaces, organize sports and mass-scale cultural events, equip school laboratories, and take other measures to improve the quality of life in the regions where the company operates.