Published 09 August 2024
This September sees the second ever Permobil Power in the Park. And this year your Firstport team will be setting up shop too, sharing a stall we know you'll love with our friends at Clipboard.
We caught up with organiser Susie Ballantyne to peek behind the curtain as the team prepare for this huge event for our disability community.
Firstport team (FP): Susie, we're getting excited for September 12th, but we'd love to hear in your words what makes Permobil Power in the Park unique in Aotearoa?
Susie "As far as we know, this is not only unique in New Zealand but globally too! It’s a partnership between a private entity and a stadium venue to benefit our wider community. Eden Park are very committed to being the most accessible and inclusive stadium in the world and we’ve partnered with them to enable our community to help them achieve this through feedback, attendance and support.
For us at Permobil, it's because while we are committed to making sure people have the best product we can offer them, for example a wheelchair, we also care about the life they live in that chair. If you have one of our chairs, we want to know that it is giving you the independence and access you value to engage with and enjoy your life.
The other unique factor about Permobil Power in the Park is that we do not charge our charity and services/trusts partners to be a part of this. Along with Eden Park and our wonderful commercial partners, we cover the costs of the whole day, we market it widely, we arrange the venue, food and schedule – all to enable our charity partners to be there and offer their support and services to our community without worrying about the cost.
We know that many shows, exhibitions and similar have to charge for spaces – however, we want that funding to go straight to disabled users and those who need it."
FP: So where did this big-hairy-audacious idea come from?
Susie: "Our team were talking about ideas in early 2023 about how we could ‘disrupt’ the market and demonstrate our commitment to being accessibility champions. At the same time, we became aware of Eden Park’s developing plans around accessibility. We wrote to Nick Sautner, the CEO, saying how we were excited about this for our users and could we explore working together to create opportunities and trust.
Great discussions followed and out of that ‘Power in the Park’ came to be – the power reflects a few things: power wheelchairs (which we are passionate about as they provide users so much flexibility), empowering our community to have a day out/new experience with low risk and giving a profile to amazing charities – who have the power to support/influence/improve lives."
FP: What’s the part you’re most excited about?
Susie: "The Kaupapa of the day is to connect.
We know that many in our disabled community feel so alone/lonely and these statistics increased considerably after COVID. We want everyone attending to feel safe, welcome and amongst friends. Last year, seeing so many people meet people like them, people who know their struggles/challenges and people who want to advocate for our disabled community was truly heartwarming.
We will do whatever we can to get people there – entry is free, food and drink is free (as long as people register), there are a variety of activities to enjoy, people to listen to and information to empower them with. And hopefully, people leave feeling confident, that they were seen and heard - and with a smile."
FP: We're really looking forward to being a part of it and we hear there are even going to be a few celebrities in attendance. Will there be the opportunity for our community to chat with the WheelBlacks and others? Or maybe even throw the ball around?"
Susie: "Absolutely! Everyone who is coming to provide activities and enhance engagement at Power in the Park is genuine about doing what they can for disabled people. Some of them are a bit shy about being role models but love engaging with people and encouraging them to partake or have a go at something new.
Our schedules will be available prior to the event and there will be information on the day so people can choose what they join in with."
FP: We see that there are wheelchair tech’s available in a pit stop, what will they be focusing on?
Susie: "We offer a basic WOF service – a basic chair check over. Our techs are amazing at listening to people and hearing where their chair might not be comfortable or quite working with them. Sometimes people want assurance that things on their chair are right or advice on how best to care for aspects like brakes and castors. If something needs tightening or a minor adjustment, we’ll help. If something is a bit more serious, we can offer feedback and advice."
FP: If we live outside Auckland, are there any community groups that you know of who we could contact to get a ride with?
Susie: "I know that quite a few groups such as Waikato Connect-Ability have posted the flyer on their facebook pages and suggested a group hikoi already so we suggest exploring those pages first. If someone is truly stuck, they can contact us on pitp24@permobil.com and we’ll see what we can find out!"
FP: So at the end of the day, what do you hope our disability community take away from attending?
Susie: "That there are so many people and organisations who care about them. Our mantra at Permobil is ‘how can we help?’ – and if we can’t, we’ll try and find someone who can. We know some issues and challenges take time to unravel, to address and to process but the people who are at Power in the Park are the people who will be there for them through this.
We also hope they see Eden Park as a venue that cares about all visitors (because they truly do!) and that they can attend sports events and concerts safely and have their needs met when they do."