International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is an initiative focused on increasing public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability and celebrate their achievements and contributions.

In celebration of IDPwD, ECHO teamed up with Basketball Victoria to host Sportswork, a friendly, community basketball challenge between ECHO staff, employers and sports people with a disability to promote inclusiveness on and off the court. Participants were given an introduction to wheelchair basketball by the team at Basketball Victoria and taken through basic skills training prior to multiple friendly games. To finish, players battled it off in a fun, free throw shootout competition.

Michael Locke, ECHO CEO said “This year’s theme of empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality is synonymous with our mission at ECHO, and last Friday’s wheelchair basketball challenge was a fantastic opportunity to start the conversation around the importance of an inclusive community. Everyone was a winner on the day, shooting hoops for a cause greater than scoring points; to break down barriers and help make positive change to the lives of 4.3 million Australians.”Thousands of community organisations have held International Day of People of Disability registered events across Australia since its inception in 1992. “We are pleased to represent ECHO as part of this important initiative and we are looking forward to doing our bit to make a positive impact on the lives of people with disability.”

This was the first of many ECHO community basketball challenges – for more information on how you can be involved and to stay up to date with the latest ECHO events, follow us on Facebook.