A HOT air balloon will glow in Albury’s QEII Square next month as a fitting symbol to launch a significant social change for the region.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The National Disability Insurance Scheme will be celebrated over the weekend of May 12-14 through a festival that will also include a community art wall, photographic exhibition and live music.
Organiser Jan Gouma, of Albury, said the tethered hot air balloon at dusk on May 12 would create a lovely atmosphere in the city’s centre.
Hot air balloons would also take off from Albury Sportsground each morning, weather permitting.
The hot air balloon aspect came from Ms Gouma’s son Curt, who has cerebral palsy.
“Curt said he wanted to go on a hot air balloon flight and I thought, ‘Why not?’,” she said.
“There was a bit of a synergy there.”
Ms Gouma said the NDIS, which would begin in Murrumbidgee on July 1 and Ovens Murray on October 1, would bring massive change in how disability services were provided.
“It’s encouraging people to live within the community, to access the mainstream support services,” she said.
“It’s also not about people with a disability only, it’s about making the community more accessible.
“People in the community need to have a better understanding of how they might approach and support people with a disability.”
Mr Gouma, who lives independently and uses a wheelchair for mobility, has always been active through hobbies like sailing, skiing, fishing and supporting Essendon in the AFL.
He is a member of Apex and Wild Choir, part of the Charles Sturt University client tutor program and also volunteers for the RSPCA.
Ms Gouma hoped the hot air balloon would attract attention and encourage questions about the NDIS.
“People need to have that information so that they know that they can live a good life in the community, which is what it’s about, a good life,” she said.
Alongside her events will be the two-day PossABLE expo run by Information on Disability Education and Awareness Service (IDEAS) at Albury Entertainment Centre.
People with disabilities, their families and carers will be able to get face-to-face advice from service providers and government agencies at the expo.
For more information about the weekend, call (02) 6056 2420.