Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This month I am holding the first Bonner Volunteer Awards, which I have spoken about before here. In the spirit of these awards, today I would like to speak on Sailability Bayside, an outstanding volunteer organisation in Bonner that has been providing a tremendous service for local people with disabilities for years. A few weeks ago I spent a beautiful morning with the Sailability volunteers down at Manly Boat Harbour. It was great seeing them in action. Every week on Mondays and Thursdays between 9 am and 2 pm the volunteers take up to 85 people with disabilities and their carers out sailing in small dinghies.

They also sail on their yacht, named Faith, which has been designed specifically for the disabled. Unfortunately time did not allow me to get out on the water with them, but it was heartwarming to see how excited these participants were. Sailability does truly selfless work making these fun adventures available to people with disabilities every week. As a not-for-profit group they rely on donations, fundraising and grants. Most importantly, they need volunteers to keep operating. Nanetta from Sailability tells me that they require around 30 more volunteers to help out on their sailing days. So, I would like to encourage anyone who loves sailing and wants to give back to the community to consider volunteering their time to this wonderful organisation.