Our busy and successful summer event season has come to a close.
In February, we supported patrons at the St Kilda Festival with buggy and minibus connection services. Travellers Aid assisted almost 400 people at the festival, including older people, families with young children, people with impairments or invisible disabilities, as well as people recovering from medical procedures.
Our presence at Moomba, together with staff from the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower team, made this iconic event accessible and inclusive for all who attended. A team of 20 Travellers Aid staff and volunteers supported patrons by providing wheelchair assistance and personal guidance. It was also our second year offering a safe, calm and quiet space for those feeling overwhelmed by the event.
A couple of weeks later, we were at Federation Square where more than 1500 people lined up for the ‘A Walk in the Park’ fundraiser for Parkinson’s. We supported more than 50 participants with buggy connections and many others with wheelchair assistance.
In late March, a team of 50 Travellers Aid staff and volunteers assisted almost 1000 people to access another stunning Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. This was 76% more than we assisted in 2022. About 750 people used our buggy service, and more than 200 people used our wheelchair assistance or personal guidance services. Many people also hired wheelchairs and strollers.
That same weekend, Travellers Aid partnered with Yarra Trams to get visitors to the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix. It was the first time our access and inclusion services were available to race fans, with more than 370 people making use of our wheelchair assistance and personal guidance services to get them from the nearest tram stop to the main gate.
Away from Melbourne, Travellers Aid’s Seymour service provided wheelchair connection assistance for visitors to the town’s annual Show ’n’ Shine event.
Our peak event season wound up on the 20 May with free wheelchair assistance and buggy transfers for attendees of The Long Walk at the G.
Some feedback from event service users:
“Wonderful service and so inclusive. We feel very well taken care of and not forgotten.”
“Without this my father would have lasted 30 minutes. With the wheelchair and other wonderful personal attention provided by Travellers Aid, we enjoyed four and a half hours at the Flower Show.”
“Travellers Aid was the difference between Judy being able to attend the Garden Show. She was extremely grateful and couldn’t speak highly enough of all volunteers and the service provided.”
