The Portobello Community Council is set to carry out an ambitious project to open up its golden beaches to people who have disabilities.

Inspired by the success of the similar project in North Berwick, The Portobello Community Council is about to launch its very own attempt to acquire beach friendly wheelchairs that will enable members of the Community who have a disability to enjoy the long stretch of sand along the Scottish coast line. Geoff Lynn, a member of the Council, explained to bespoken why it was decided that the project would go ahead.

‘We really want to provide wheelchair users, their friends and families access to the beach.  It will hopefully mean that families or groups can spend time together on the sand or by the shore, without having to leave the wheelchair user(s) on the Prom.’

The successful North Berwick project led to several children’s wheelchairs and 2 adult chairs being made available to the Community.  The initiative was led by Alison Brown and Jackie Tagg whose similar experiences of disability in their families convinced them to take action.

Eager to emulate the positive impact they had in their local area, The Portobello Community Council is trying to achieve its goals by:

-          setting up a steering group of volunteers to launch the project

-          a larger group of volunteers to answer booking calls

-          a site to store the wheelchairs that people will hire

-          funds to purchase the needed equipment to achieve this project

‘We are in the early stages still’ explains Geoff. ‘We are just setting up a steering group’.

Ever keen to get the community involved, Geoff tells about how the council has no intention of just going it alone and is actively trying to recruit volunteers and people who use wheelchairs to help them make the vision a reality.

‘Since we haven't yet properly started, no wheelchair users are involved yet, although it will be essential to have some on board, and I am hoping at least one parent of a wheelchair user will be on the steering group’.

Will you be supporting the launch of the Beach Wheelchair project for Portobello? If you would like to find out how you can be involved, please contact the Portobello Community Council at secretary@portobellocc.org.

Alternatively you can easily help just by filing in a short survey on the project. Click here for more details.