Fed up with holiday accommodation that leaves her literally outside in the cold, Tanya Barton is on a mission to build a wheelchair-friendly holiday option on the Sunshine Coast financed through crowd-funding.
Tanya lives with cerebral palsy and loves to travel but past experiences have left her staying at home rather than risking her chances on places promising to be wheelchair accessible.
“A lot of holiday accommodation outlets tell you they are wheelchair friendly, but they are not,” she said.
In the past Tanya has been prevented from even entering a unit because the path was blocked by a raised ledge. Another time she couldn’t access the shower with her wheelchair.
“I couldn’t get my wheelchair in the cubicle, let alone my chair and carer. So I had to shower outside at the pool shower every day which was freezing cold,” she said. “It was either that or go home.”
She says her experiences are not uncommon, but she knows how good a holiday can be.
Tanya has fond memories of staying at units on the Gold Coast as a child in “truly wheelchair-accessible units” but they no longer exist.
In an ambitious project Tanya aims to raise $900,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to build or purchase and adapt holiday accommodation to be what she calls “choose ability accommodation”.
This would give people with disabilities and mobility issues the ability to enjoy a holiday at comparable costs to people without a disability.
She has been discussing her design ideas with disability access consultants, who she will be working with to comply with building codes.
Tanya has set up a GoFundMe site called Ramp to Paradise and raised about $4000 in the past two months.
Donations can be made at www.gofundme.com/ramp-to-paradise.
