Wheelchair users enjoy Spencer Gulf waves with help of special mats

Wheelchair users took their first dips in the sea at Adelaide's Henley Beach last weekend where a special, accessible mat was rolled out to the water's edge.

Sponsored by the City of Charles Sturt, the mats are used regularly at Seacliff and about 10 other patrolled beaches across Australia, but organisers hope they will become a regular sight around the country.

Shane Hryhorec, from supplier Accessible Beaches Australia, said it was a relatively simple idea that could make a big difference to people's lives.

Hryhorec told the ABC “the mat just rolls out and it becomes a pathway for people to take their own chair down to the water, and then there's also products like beach wheelchairs (to give) people to have an experience of beach access just for one day is pretty powerful."

Hryhorec hopes that more of Australia’s 315 patrolled beaches will introduce similar access, stating “people just want to head down here and experience the beach just like everyone else.”

It is intended that Henley Beach will become the third beach in South Australia to be permanently accessible (and the 12th beach in Australia) via beach matting and floating beach wheelchairs.

Click here to contact Accessible Beaches Australia via their entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.

Images used for illustrative purposes only.

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