Local company donates breadtags to mark International Wheelchair Day

The children from Avondale, in collaboration with Adapt To Change, had been collecting the tags since last year. "Please give a very, very big thank you to all the staff and learners at Avondale School who contributed so many tags," said Mary Honeybun of the Breadtags for Wheelchairs Foundation. She added that, so far, the foundation has managed to give out 368 wheelchairs and last year alone five tons of breadtags were recycled and kept out of landfills.

The needs of disabled people around the world

International Wheelchair Day was started six years ago by Steve Wilkinson in Australia. Wilkinson was born with spina bifida and wanted to create a day that raised awareness of the needs of disabled people around the world and, more importantly, to create the opportunity to celebrate the positive impact that a wheelchair can have in someone's life.

Wilkinson said of Adapt To Change and Avondale Primary's initiative forming part of International Wheelchair Day: "I'm honoured to include you as the first event to be featured from South Africa and for the fact that you are working so hard alongside the school and Mary (of the Breadtags for Wheelchairs Foundation) to support one of the key aims of International Wheelchair Day (which is) to provide wheelchairs for the tens of millions of people who need a wheelchair to improve their quality of life."

"We are privileged to have played a small part in two such incredible initiatives that are making such a big difference in many people's lives," said Johann Koegelenberg, Adapt To Change's co-founder.