About S$418,000 raised at SPD Ability Walk 2024 to support persons with disabilities
More than 2,200 people participated in the event
LOCAL charity SPD has raised about S$418,000 at its annual fundraising event SPD Ability Walk this year, which will go towards supporting persons with disabilities (PWDs).
The total amount raised includes matching from the Tote Board Enhancement Fundraising Programme. It is the highest amount raised since the event’s inception in 2016.
The 2024 edition took place on Sunday (Sep 1) at the Asian Civilisations Museum, where Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, as well as Trade and Industry, was the guest of honour.
There were more than 2,200 participants, including 23 corporate donors and nearly 300 volunteers, as well as members of the public. The public could take part by donating S$38.
The event involved a 3-km walk around Singapore River, disabilities simulation activities, an outdoor carnival with games and food and beverage stalls.
Such events let PWDs participate and feel like they are part of the community, said Abhimanyau Pal, chief executive of SPD.
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Roger Tan, vice-president of manufacturing (Asia-Pacific and Middle East) at TechnipFMC, which has been supporting the Ability Walk since its inception, said: “By supporting SPD, we are not only helping to improve the lives of those with disabilities, but also fostering a culture of empathy and understanding within our community.”
The simulation activities – which took place along the 3-km route, inside the museum and at the carnival grounds – aim to educate the public and raise awareness of the challenges that PWDs face.
For example, participants could try their hand at a mini-golf challenge using golf clubs that were modified to simulate impairments faced by PWDs, such as motor coordination, muscle weakness, spasticity and dyskinesia.
Other activities focused on vision impairment and loss, where participants have to rely on their sense of touch, smell and hearing. They included guessing games and wearing peripheral goggles to play five stones.
Pal said that if the public can experience the challenges that PWDs face, they would come to understand the many abilities that PWDs possess instead of focusing on the negative.
Yip Kim Chow, an 80-year-old client at SPD @ Toa Payoh senior care centre since May 2022, said that events such as the Ability Walk allow him to venture beyond his immediate vicinity and keep him active.
As a participant in the senior care centre’s daycare programme, he exercises and socialises with others. He noted that if he did not participate in such activities, it might be easier for him to get dementia.
Filling the gap
The funds raised will be used to support SPD’s programmes and fill the gap “where government funding ends”, Pal noted.
The SPD Ability Walk 2024 was held in conjunction with the welfare organisation’s 60th anniversary.
SPD started in 1964 as a small sheltered workshop in Tiong Bahru, providing training and employment opportunities for persons with physical disabilities. It currently serves more than 11,000 PWDs every year.
Ong Toon Hui, president of SPD, said: “We are now 550 strong, and operate out of 10 locations across Singapore, offering over 20 programmes and services including early intervention, education support, vocational training, employment support, therapy, as well as daycare and senior care services.”
She noted that SPD has already opened three centres this year – two early intervention centres and one senior care centre – and is opening another senior care centre before the end of its financial year.
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