Well-Able set to mark 25th birthday

Sarah Biddiscombe inside Well-Able, in Rimu Rd, Paraparaumu.

Well-Able, formerly known as the Disability Information and Equipment Centre, is about to celebrate a significant milestone.

The charitable organisation will be celebrating a quarter of a century of providing a free and impartial disability advice service in Kapiti.

On Tuesday, December 5 from 10am to 2pm a 25th birthday celebration will be held and people are invited to pop in and visit the new location.

"People can come in, without any pressure, and see what we do and ask any questions," manager Sarah Biddiscombe said.

It wasn't financially viable for the organisation to stay in the Kapiti Community Centre, Paraparaumu, where the service had originated, so they looked to relocate and found a suitable location nearby in 110 Rimu Rd, Paraparaumu.

After the signing of a five-year lease and general redecoration of the property, which used to be where doctor Chris Lane and chiropractor Paul Duff worked some time ago, the organisation moved in on September 1.

And the Disability Information and Equipment Centre name was changed to Well-Able to "to better reflect our purpose of helping to enable people with a disability or those with lessened mobility to be able to do more".

Moreover, disability was an unempowering word and there was a movement, especially in Europe, to move away from the word, she said.

"We're now talking about people's ability.

"Whatever your difficulties you're still able to do a lot of things and we're here to enable people to do that."

The core focus of Well-Able, which has four paid part-time staff as well as 10 volunteers, was to provide free and impartial disability advice, advocacy for people who don't feel their rights have been upheld, help people find work by putting them in touch with agencies, work with council, offer disability and mobility equipment for sale and hire, and more.

www.well-able.org.nz