OCC needs volunteers

GEORGE NEWS - Do you want to get involved in a good cause? Then you have the ideal opportunity - volunteer your help at the Outeniqua Wheelchair Challenge (OCC) on 12 May.

After initial uncertainty about the date, the municipality recently announced that the event will take place on Sunday 12 May. In the past the OCC took place the second weekend of February.

The organisers of the OCC released a document in which they ask for the help of the community. Volunteers are needed at motivational points along the route and they are looking for marshals, wheelchair pushers and logistical support.

Businesses or individuals willing to sponsor a wheelchair or provide accommodation for the athletes, are also asked to come forward. Businesses can also get involved by putting up stalls along the route.

Athletes or organisations who want to attend, must please send an e-mail to Jonique Claasen-Gozongo at occ@george.gov.za. Alternatively, contact her on 044 801 6346 during office hours or 073 311 8343 after hours.

The OCC challenge will be preceded by a Disability Sports Festival from 6 to 11 May at various venues around George. The sports festival will include exhibitions on sporting codes for persons with disabilities as well as opportunities for teams to participate against each other. Sporting codes will include wheelchair rugby, goal ball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, blind cricket, bocce and golf.

Ansie Swart, who was on the organising committee for a decade and held the position of organising director for five years, told the George Herald that volunteers play an important role in the success of the event. It also helps volunteers to see disability from a other perspective. Swart will this year be involved by assisting the teams.

Volunteers who can act as wheelchair pushers and marshals are needed for this year's OCC on 12 May.