A Walk Too Far For The Young Ones

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday January 8, 2008

Mirren Lee

I AM writing this on behalf of my eight-year-old grandson, Nicholas, who is in remission from leukaemia. He told me to "ask that lady not to make us walk".

"That lady" is the Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, who was kind enough to throw the Lord Mayor's picnic that Nicholas and I attended on New Year's Eve, along with my son and daughter-in-law. It was an event for children with special needs and was just wonderful. Held in the Botanic Gardens, the party was full of entertainment, food, gifts and competitions, culminating in the children's fireworks over the harbour at 9pm with a spot on the edge of the water, right next to the Opera House. The fireworks appeared directly in front of us and were spectacular.

After the fireworks, we were herded back up the hill to our picnic area. As you can imagine, the children by this time were very tired and so were the parents. Parents who have children with special needs usually have to work very hard dealing with those needs. We reached the gates of the gardens and spilled out onto Macquarie Street. Moore had arranged parking at the Domain for those of us who couldn't get one of the rare handicapped spaces on Macquarie Street.

Thoughtful as this was, we had a walk that took almost half an hour, after five hours at the event with a walk to and from the fireworks already under our belt. My grandson tires easily. His mother had been able to drop us off when we arrived at the event and then go park the car, but now the road was blocked off. One friendly policeman told us traffic was blocked off all the way to Liverpool or Market street. All I can say is it was too far and left a bad memory of an otherwise lovely event.

We were not the only ones who faced a long trek. I saw one little girl in a wheelchair, on a drip, with her parents trudging up the street ahead of us. Those who had to find a bus had to walk even further.

This event is thrown for children with special needs, not athletes, and the needs usually include some kind of health problem. So, on behalf of Nicholas, I'd like to suggest to "that lady" that maybe next year the budget should include some transport options so the picnic can end on a relaxing note and not as an endurance test.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home