By Danielle Kutchel
City of Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon has kicked off her Mayor’s Walk for Disability, taking her first official steps as part of the campaign at Livvi’s Place in Lyndhurst.
Cr Stapledon began her fundraiser by taking part in the Marriot Waters Parkrun on Saturday 14 September.
After completing the five kilometre course, she continued on to Brian’s Gourmet Meats at Marriott Waters, Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne and the Cranbourne Bowls Club, walking around 12km in total for the first day of the walk.
The walk continued on Sunday with visits to St John’s Anglican Church, Blue Hills Retirement Village, Casey Fields and Carlisle Park.
On Monday Cr Stapledon visited Blind Bight Community Centre, Blairlogie Living and Learning, Pearcedale Primary School and Moonlit Sanctuary in Pearcedale.
The walk is set to continue for another five days with the mayor walking around 10km per day, visiting community groups, businesses, charities and facilities across the City of Casey.
The mayor said the people she had visited so far had been extremely generous, donating hundreds to the cause.
“It’s going marvellously so far, and the more funds we can raise, the more chance we have of reaching our goal,” she said.
The Mayor’s Walk for Disability is raising funds for the Wolfdene Foundation’s Project 28 initiative, which will see the development of supported accommodation for Casey residents with a disability who are still in the care of their ageing parents or carers.
Project 28 aims to address the current shortfall of 28,000 households Australia wide for people living with a disability by building 28 supported accommodation units by 2028.
“This is to make sure adults with disability have their forever home, that rite of passage,” Cr Stapledon said.
“There are people living in rundown motel rooms, boarding houses, hospital rooms and nursing homes. Everywhere I go I see nodding heads of people who know the story I’m telling,” she said.
Find Cr Stapledon’s full walking itinerary and donate to the cause at https://www.casey.vic.gov.au/mayors-walk-disability.
