Top lawyer gets wheels for charity

A Fourways law firm took up Little Eden’s CEO wheelchair campaign for charity.

The annual campaign aims to raise awareness and compassion about the challenges wheelchair users experience daily. The campaign was launched in 2017, in line with national Intellectual Disability Awareness Month, commemorated in March.

Since the start of the campaign, CEOs and business leaders have been challenged to sign up and spend one workday in a wheelchair every March.

Harris Billings Attorneys director, Matthew St Clair, spent his workday in a wheelchair on March 29. The firm also donated R55 000 to Little Eden residents. “It is something I always thought of, what would it be like to be in a wheelchair? When I heard about the initiative on the radio, I always wanted to do it but only recently I became a director and that enabled me to take part. After getting the blessings from the partners at the firm, I reached out to Little Eden to put the whole plan in motion and I am excited it’s finally happening,” said St Clair.

“When I sat on the chair for the first time in the morning, I found it difficult to get around and get the angles right. It is difficult but worth the experience, this is what someone has to go through on a day-to-day basis,” he added.

The Little Eden society has been providing 24-hour care to children and adults with profound intellectual disabilities for over 55 years. According to Little Eden’s public relations and communication coordinator, Gaahele Mokgoro the main goal is to highlight challenges experienced by people with physical disabilities and to help raise R1.5m for the care of 300 children and adults with profound intellectual disabilities.

“It costs about R13 460 per month to care for one resident at the home, and about 68% of our residents have been abandoned or come from an underprivileged background. The campaign helps our job becomes much easier, and spending one workday in a wheelchair will give you a glimpse of the daily challenges that people who rely on wheelchairs for mobility face daily,” said Mokgoro.

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