Ride for a day in my wheels

This Friday is International Day of People with Disability and to celebrate, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council will host an event to raise awareness about the challenges faced by people using wheelchairs, mobility scooters and wheelie walkers.

Members of the community including Council's General Manager Tony Hayward and several Council staff, Member for Lyne Robert Oakeshott, Member for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams and Wauchope High School's Special Support Unit will join the cavalcade which starts at Settlement City from 9.30am and concludes at the CWA Rooms on Town Green.

Participants will make their way to Town Green using mobility aids including wheelchairs and scooters. The event includes morning tea and those attending are invited to learn Auslan sign language to order their tea, coffee and cake.

International Day of People with a Disability is a United Nations sanctioned day that aims to promote an understanding of people with disability and encourage support for their dignity, rights and well-being.

The day also seeks to raise awareness of the benefits of the integration of people with disability in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

Another event to celebrate the day will be a Party on the Pier at Port Macquarie Panthers at 7pm, supported by Council and Bago Magic. It will be an opportunity to celebrate the many extraordinary achievements that people with a disability have made throughout 2011 in Port Macquarie-Hastings.

Members of Bago Magic worked with Council to organise this event.