The launch of new charity organisation, WheelEasy, will support the use of leisure and tourism services for Australians that are dependent on a wheelchair and their families/friends.
Wheelchair users will be at peace of mind with WheelEasy’s user-generated content websites that provides vital and specific geo-located information.
Instead of information scattered across different websites, the access information website brings together all the information wheelchair users and their family/friends need for guidance on all leisure oriented activities including beaches, stadiums, cinemas and many more.
The brains behind this are Max Burt and his wife Justine, who have experienced the challenges faced for wheelchair users to travel. In 1999, Max was involved in a car accident that resulted in him being a permanent wheelchair user, and they saw how difficult it was to do leisure activities together. This motivated them to launch wheeleasy.org.au that aims to change this.
“Our ultimate aim is to make every wheelchair user in Australia aware of our site and ask them to share their local knowledge and experience. We’ve started in NSW and now we are mapping the whole country. We want it to be a permanent feature on every wheelchair user’s mobile”, Chairman of Trustees, Max Burt said.
Through one domain, users can search where in their location they can find accessible toilets, parking, beach wheelchairs, flat access picnics and restaurants. If there is a lack of access, the site can search for alternatives. WheelsEasy invites everyone to share information and photos about their local area to provide detailed knowledge for all wheelchair users of different access needs.
This information is essential to enjoying life with others. Now imagine being able to access all this information on one site”.
To kick-start the Charity, WheelEasy has been awarded a grant from one of Australia’s major philanthropic bodies, the Ian Potter Foundation, and has partnered with property developer Mirvac as one of their major supporters.
This will be a game changing platform for wheelchair users, making travelling easier and more accessible.
