Recently, I was delighted to meet up with Beach Access North East (BANE), a charity with a mission to provide wheelchair users with access to our spectacular beaches across the North East.
Back in 2018 I along with BANE started a campaign to bring these specially adapted wheelchairs to our beach, I remember how much my Gran loved coming to the beach and how much it affected her when she became a wheelchair user and was unable to get onto the sand or close to the sea anymore. I remember all the children I worked with in my former career who never got to feel the sand between their toes or the splash of the waves. That BANE is now a part of our gorgeous South Shields beaches makes me so happy.
I want to say a special thank you to the dedicated volunteers who help people loan a full range of specialised equipment free of charge to wheelchair users in South Shields and other nearby locations, without them the scheme would never have worked, because of them wheelchair users get to enjoy our beach and the sea in a way they were never able to before. I just wish my Gran was still here to experience it.
You can visit the BANE website here or contact them by calling 0300 999 4444 or emailing info@beachaccessnortheast.org​