A wheely good presentation

9:20am Sunday 17th August 2008

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The culmination of a dedicated fundraising effort comes to fruition today (Sunday), as two beach wheelchairs are presented to the Physically Impaired People of Pembrokeshire Association (PIPPA) on Broad Haven beach.

An intrepid team of 25 fundraisers, including MP Stephen Crabb, walked, cycled and rowed a total of 163 miles and raised more than £2,000 to pay for the chairs and to raise awareness of the fact that the National Park is accessible to people of all ages and abilities.

Sunday is the last stretch of the fundraisers' challenge. They will meet on the beach tomorrow afternoon to present both an adult's and a child's beach wheelchair to PIPPA.

The child's chair has been designed by local engineer Nino Algieri and is very possibly the first of its kind in Wales.

P.I.P.P.A already has two beach wheelchairs, provided by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, which can be collected from Haverfordwest and used on any accessible beach in the county.

The new chairs will provide access to Broad Haven beach and can be collected from Haven Sports.

Ann Shuttleworth, one of the organisers of the fundraising effort said: “We wanted to raise the profile of what is on offer for people living with disability to explore and enjoy our beautiful national park. We also thought it would be a good chance to raise our fitness levels and take in every corner of the constituency boundary of Preseli Pembrokeshire."

To find out about wheelchair access to Whitesands, Newport Sands, Tenby and Saundersfoot beaches, as well as footpaths in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park visit www.pcnpa.org.uk/walking To hire a beach wheelchair call P.I.P.P.A, Haverfordwest, on 01437 760999, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm or email pippapembs@btconnect.com