Access for All Playscape earns provincial recognition

Burchnall says the committee is made up of Red Deer’s four Rotary clubs and Rotaract Club along with Mattie McCullough Elementary School parents, teachers and families. He sites the Make a Move With Jagger Foundation and City of Red Deer – owner of the land and maintenance provider of the equipment, as other key partners in the project.

Provincial officials say events are taking place across the province between November 16 and December 5, including one held at the Sheraton Hotel in Red Deer December 2, to help create awareness and understanding of disability issues while recognizing the accomplishments and contributions people with disabilities make to Alberta.

The Access for All Barrier-Free Playscape is described as the brainchild of three Red Deer parents who noticed children in wheelchairs were not able to play in the city parks. After connecting with interested community groups, Access for All Barrier-Free Playscape was created.

After nearly three years, the committee has celebrated great strides in building awareness for the project, rallying other groups to join and garnering interest and momentum for a successful project.

Provincial officials also point-out much of the consultation with vendors and community partners, site selection, budgeting, fundraising, site preparation and equipment assembly was accomplished through volunteer efforts of the committee.

More than half of the park equipment is also said to be accessible, allowing children of all abilities to enjoy it.

Burchnall says Access for All is now promoting a Mystery Item fundraiser which he thinks will make a great addition to the current playground at Mattie McCullough.

“We took a picture of it and had a jigsaw puzzle made from the picture,” he explains. “What we’re allowing people the opportunity to do is to help us fundraise by purchasing a piece of the puzzle. The kids at Mattie McCullough will put this puzzle together and as it gets slowly formed, we’ll take a picture of that puzzle each week and upload it to the website.”

He says it’s a one thousand piece puzzle with each piece available for a $30 donation.

“So it will be $30,000 which will pretty much buy the equipment item,” states Burchnall. “But any amount of donation helps go towards a piece, so somebody can donate $4 for example and it helps buy a piece of a piece of the puzzle. The fundraiser will last until we sell-out, it’s open-ended.”

He says 2019 will also reveal another exciting addition to the Access for All Barrier-Free Playscape at Mattie McCullough, in addition to the mystery item they’re fundraising for.

“We’ve got an Ability World merry-go-round that’s been ordered and will be installed in the spring,” he exclaims. “This is a special merry-go-round that’s flush-mounted with the rubberized flooring and allows someone in crutches or in a wheelchair to just roll on or easily walk on, it’s a truly inclusive item.”

Burchnall says other work anticipated for 2019 includes path work and additional seeding which are both subject to funding.

According to the Access for All website, total fundraising for the three-year, three-phase project is $577,000 with $480,000 raised so far.

by Sheldon Spackman

Access for All Playscape earns provincial recognition

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