Surf, sun and inclusive fun
By Tiahna Fiddling
Australia's leading community program for people with disability, Universal Beach Access Hub (U-BEACH) is hosting its annual U-BEACH Community Beach Day.
Led by CQUniversity Physiotherapy, the accessible event will welcome attendees of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to enjoy a beach day at Nielson Park, Bargara on Friday, 12 April.
After U-BEACH was named Australia’s best community program for people with disability by the Australian Disability Service Conference & Awards (ADSCA) in 2023, event organiser and CQU physiotherapy researcher Sasha Job said the team is excited to build upon the initiative’s success.
“We hope this year will be even to be bigger and better!
“The 2024 U-BEACH Community Beach Day will have even more equipment than previous events we have been involved in - including new equipment specifically for children,” Ms Job explained.
“Attendees will have the opportunity to utilise the accessible beach equipment including beach mats, wheelchairs, plus the new additions of adapted walkers, crutches, and sticks.”
The free event will also feature a diverse range of activities, from walking and swimming to kite-flying, cricket, sand games, and sandcastle building.
By collaborating with partners and sponsors, U-BEACH strives to create inclusive environments where everyone can participate in beach-based activities.
The 2024 U-BEACH Community Beach Day is proudly supported by the CQUniversity Physiotherapy team in partnership with Health and Wellbeing Queensland, Regional Health and Mobility, Bundaberg Independent Living Specialists, Rhino Support Coordination, Carinbundi. Rise-up Support Partners and Rotary Club of Bundaberg Sunrise.
"The Beach Day is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of people with disabilities to our community, foster interaction and engagement among all community members,” Ms Job said.
“Thanks to these innovative projects and partnerships, U-BEACH has been able to break down barriers to beach access and promote inclusivity.”
Transcript
Sasha Job: Today we've got our U Beach Community Beach day. So it's an all inclusive Beach day where we've got accessible mats and beach equipment so everyone can enjoy the beach.
In Bundaberg this is our first ever event, so we're pretty excited. It's been a few years in the making to get the equipment to to build up our networks for our access hub.
Just to see people freely coming onto the beach the very first person to walk down the mat did so just with a little bit of support purely because the matwas here. She said she has MS and it's been a number of years many years since she's been to the beach and she used to swim every day and she was just overwhelmed with joy which just made me so proud of our community that we can just bring this joy to people's life and share the magic of the beach
Kathryn Tolstoï: I loved it. I had two supporters Scott from Surf Lifesavers and they do a fabulous job 9 to 5, 7 days a week along the coast here. talking to him gave me the opportunity to figure out how might be able to do it at Kelly's Beach which is closer to my place, Clara from the CQU physio crew helped me into the water.
It was refreshing and I just had to get down. I had some fear but I knew I had support so I got on my knees and and I got wet up to my sort of neck on waves. It was refreshing, cool, liberating freeing.
Sasha Job: So we know that in our region around one in five people have disability and 50 per cent of thosepeople have told us they can't access the beach. We have surveyed our community to understand what the the challenges they face are and we've really looked at solutions to overcome the challenges that people with disability have told us exist here. I'm hoping that anyone who wants to access the beach can do so.
Some of the key challenges people face are moving through the soft sand and a lack of mobility equipment. Another challenge people have in getting to the beach is they sometimes don't have the support required because of these needs for equipment.
We've got CQU Physio and OT students volunteering their time to assist with hoist transfers and transfers to the equipment, and helping people just engage in the activities on the beach.
Registration is not required to attend the free U-BEACH Community Beach Day, but individuals are encouraged to register their interest in participating to assist with activity planning and catering arrangements.
Further information can be obtained by contacting Sasha Job via email at s.job@cqu.edu.au
