The last two years has been an extraordinarily tough time for Australians and New Zealanders. Coming out of the bushfires and into the Covid pandemic – living with the impact of a succession of lockdowns with some cities and states only now opening to a new normal.
People living with disability (visible or non-visible) need accessibility and support to return to community events, day-to-day routines and basic requirements. I suspect, the full impact of the lockdowns has yet to be seen here.
Bayley House is proud to be the partner of the Sunflower here in Australia and New Zealand. Over the past year, we have cultivated peak body partners to endorse the Sunflower scheme and have been excited to welcome numerous organisations as Sunflower members across all sectors. Some of these new members include the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Go Tafe, Gold Coast Hospital, Australian National Maritime Museum, Queenstown Airport, Art Gallery of NSW, New Zealand Parliament, RAC Arena, KPMG NZ, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences just to name a few.
We have plans to launch the new updated website offering our members even more accessibility to knowledge, training and connection in 2022.
“A highlight for me personally is seeing the full circle of the Sunflower eco-system and how it impacts Bayley House and its clients. As a little project twice a week, the clients of the day programs enjoy packing the orders for Sunflower customers and keeping the inventory. I believe in “serving a purpose that impacts lives daily & the Sunflower has a huge impact empowering people with hidden disabilities and providing an easier, more comfortable approach to everyday challenges that may occur for some.”
Justin Bruce, Marketing General Manager, Bayley House comments, “One person and one business at a time we are working towards a community that moves beyond accepting into celebrating differences.”
Warwick Cavanagh, CEO of Bayley House states, “I love that the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme is all about community; helping people with disabilities access mainstream services and in doing so helping the broader community to appreciate the skills which people with disabilities have to offer!”