“There’s a healing within coming to a beach and I think everyone across Canada can relate to it,” (Rose Mary MacDonald, IDA’s vice-president).
I’m back in Nova Scotia for the summer and, as always, inspired by the kind of work that happens here. One of the real gifts of the east coast is the beaches – and while they’re beautiful restorative energizing places for many of us – beaches are (still) NOT available to all of us (which is *&$^%#!). But this is changing… On Inverness Beach in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, sand is no longer a barrier for those with mobility challenges.
The Inverness Development Association and the Inverness County Accessibility Committee are working together to make the beach more accessible by investing in some beach-friendly wheelchairs, blue mats leading from the boardwalk to the water’s edge, and some floating chairs.
These blue mats provide a path from the boardwalk to the water’s edge on Inverness Beach, making it easier to walk and push other accessible equipment. (Kayla Hounsell/CBC)
Photo by: Kayla Hounsell/CBC
Christine Hannigan says it will be much easier to get to the beach now. (Kayla Hounsell/CBC)
Two of the beach-friendly wheelchairs, mats that make it easier to walk on the sand and two floating chairs that allow people to go in the water. (Dave Laughlin/CBC)
This equipment is all part of a larger project to make the Inverness Beach fully accessible including ramps and accessible parking spaces and bathrooms to provide the “whole [accessibility] package”. It’s the first beach to do so along Atlantic Canada and I hope it prompts others to do the same – come on lets do this!
Check out the original story covered by CBC Nova Scotia here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/accessible-beach-equipment-arrives-in-inverness-1.4730080
The Mobility Project 