The South Australian government has provided further funding to help expand Estara‘s beach access program.
The program, which has run for the past three summers, is offering six supported beach access sessions at Glenelg beach between January and March.
The program received funding of almost $10,000 through round one of the 2024-25 Social Impact program to purchase a Mobichair floating wheelchair and eight Milo waterproof communicators, allowing for more people to access the beach for each nominated day.
The program provides people with mobility needs the opportunity to engage in an everyday activity and operates as a ‘come and try’ session that seeks to empower participants to attend ‘self-serve’ beaches, which allow for spontaneous visits with friends and family. Estara provides trained staff, including occupational therapists, to support with volunteering on beach days.
It’s experienced growing demand for the beach access sessions with each one booked out last year and additional drop-in participants attending on the day.
Beth Davidson-Park, chair of Estara, said the organisation was “thrilled” to provide the supported beach days in the City of Holdfast Bay.
“The experience of enjoying the beach should be available and inclusive of all South Australians,” she said.
Upcoming sessions for 2025 will take place on Sunday 9 February, Saturday 22 February, Friday 7 March and Saturday 22 March.
In addition to Glenelg, four other metropolitan Adelaide and two regional South Australian beaches are classed as accessible, with Henley Beach, Seacliff, Semaphore, Semaphore South, Normanville and Whyalla Foreshore allowing varying levels of accessibility.
For a full directory of accessible beaches visit: accessiblebeaches.com/beach-directory.