April cover story
It’s finally starting to feel like spring! On the April cover are our members Caroline, Amy, George and Andrew who have been visiting Beach Wheelchairs in Portobello. We asked them what their top tips for getting out and enjoying Spring are, Andrew said he loves spring time because he loves going for big walks with friends. George said that he loves to see that nature is changing and there’s more colours and the days becoming longer & a bit lighter at nights – we completely agree!!
Join us in April getting out and about across Edinburgh especially a visit back to Edinburgh Beach wheelchairs on Thursday 18th April. We had a little chat with them for this blog, catch up below!
How long has Beach Wheelchairs been around and why did you start up?
We have been around for 10 years, since our hut in North Berwick opened in 2015 and in Portobello in 2017. Since then, we are proud to say we have helped over 3000 people access our beautiful beaches.
What is it you do?
The Charity was first launched by our wonderful chair Alison Brown following a visit to France with her son who is a wheelchair user and accessed beach wheelchairs on their beach. We hire out adapted manual and powered beach wheelchairs for Free. We also have hoist facilities and beach walkers on offer.
What’s your mission?
Our mission is to allow everybody to access the beautiful beaches in East Lothian and Edinburgh regardless of their ability and enjoy the wonderful sensory experience the beach has to offer.
Can you tell us about a typical day for you?
During the quieter months September to May we are pre booked hires only but in June / July / August our two locations are manned by beach hut attendants. This allows us to pick up hires that aren’t scheduled as well as pre booked hires. On a busy summer day we can see up to 5 separate hires being scheduled at each location. We have a diverse range of customers from schools to care homes to disability groups to individuals with their family or friends. The list is vast. I think our youngest has been 2 years and our oldest was 99 years old.
What’s the dream/ultimate goal?
Our goal is to increase visibility, support more projects in Scotland and beyond and make beach wheelchairs on the beach, the norm not the exception.
Find Beach Wheelchairs here and hopefully we’ll see you on Thursday 18th April at 1.30pm!
If you have a cover story for us or want to host YOUR OWN event contact office@get2gether.org.uk!