At Sport and Recreation Services, International Day for People with a Disability allows our participants to participate in a number of events or showcase their skills in a variety of ways. The Disability Trust is committed to “creating an inclusive world” and International Day for People with a Disability is a great way to encourage inclusion across the community.

This year, our Altogether Drama group will be performing a traditional English pantomime of Cinderella, alongside the Wollongong Workshop Theatre group. The performers have previously been in a number of productions including Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and this is Altogether Drama’s 18th year of performing.

Every year, we hold our Christmas Party on the first weekend of December where all participants from all Sport and Recreation Service’s programs come together to enjoy a night of dancing and games. As always there has been a lot of excitement building over the past few weeks and we are sure it will also be a great night.

Finally, our Leisure Link group will be taking part in the Shoalhaven International Day for People with a Disability Dinner Dance, held annually at the Bomaderry RSL Club. This event is the hard work of the Shoalhaven Disability Forum, and our group has been busy making their hats for this year’s Happy Hatters theme.

What do you do to celebrate International Day of People with Disability? Share your story here.

International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is a globally celebrated day of activities and events held on 3 December each year, which recognises the achievements and contributions of people with disabilities within communities all over the world.

The day represents empowerment to people with disabilities and gives them a turn in the limelight.

At Northwest Disability Services our aim for the day was to showcase the incredible talents of our aspiring artists with the launch of our ‘Access to Art’ exhibition, to rally together with members of our wider community and to have some fun!

By 10am the building was abuzz with people. Phil Knight performed music in the morning and everyone danced, sang and enjoyed his renditions of song classics, such as Mustang Sally and My Girl.  

There were fun group games set up in each room, painting in the art room and a coloured hairspray station in the backyard. Michelle Gilan and her pet therapy dog Jade also came in for a visit.

A talent showcase was then held in the community hall and we saw some fabulous performances from some of the service users at North West. After a delicious BBQ lunch everyone enjoyed some line dancing with Julie Talbot to finish off the celebrations!

As I walked through the halls and rooms of our building at Baulkham Hills that day, the spirit and excitement of everyone was infectious. Around 100 people came along and there was not a face to be seen without a smile.