Image: FULL STOP COMMUNICATIONS
Mandela Day marked the launch of the ninth annual Wheelchair Wednesday campaign, in which able-bodied volunteers take on the daily challenges faced by at least 100,000 disabled Nelson Mandela Bay residents.
SPAR Eastern Cape and the Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities have again partnered, this time with the aim of raising enough funds to provide 200 wheelchairs to the needy.
The association’s executive director, Cecilia Fourie, said this would be a particularly impressive achievement considering that the waiting period to get a government wheelchair is longer than two years.
“We will have donated 1,200 wheelchairs in the space of nine years, which is a huge achievement,” Fourie said.
On Mandela Day, Bay personalities were tasked to spend 67 minutes in a wheelchair to promote the initiative.
They were asked to perform various tasks at Sunridge SUPERSPAR in a prelude to September’s full campaign.
The project, which has been delayed by a month due to Covid-19 regulations, raises awareness among businesses of the need for wheelchair-friendly facilities and is the brainchild of the association.
Every Wednesday in September, volunteers from businesses, the municipality and schools will be confined to wheelchairs for four hours to experience the issues those with mobility difficulties confront each day.
SPAR Eastern Cape sponsorship and events manager Alan Stapleton said the participants’ willingness to experience life in a wheelchair on Saturday was inspiring.
He said though they were only in the chair for 67 minutes instead of the normal four hours, their view would have changed after realising how difficult life in a wheelchair could be.
“It was a special occasion because, through their participation, people in Port Elizabeth will receive wheelchairs.
“That will allow them much greater freedom, perhaps to start working and to become an integrated member of society,” Stapleton said.
Another aspect of this year’s campaign would be the 80th anniversary celebrations of the association in Nelson Mandela Bay, Fourie said.
“To commemorate this landmark, we will be giving away 80 pairs of crutches and other mobility-assistive devices, sponsored by SPAR.
“It is only with the support of the people who donated the wheelchairs, that this campaign can grow from strength to strength.”