Citizen Walk About is set for Friday, Sept. 27 (Photo courtesy Mark Davids)

By Justin Goulet

Raising Awareness

Citizen Walk About celebrates 10-year anniversary Friday

Sep 26, 2019 | 5:35 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Residents will gather together on Friday to raise awareness on accessibility.

The 10th annual Citizen Walk About is all set for September 27.

The event is organized by the Southern Alberta Individualized Planning Association (SAIPA) and the South Region Self Advocacy Network (SRSAN).

“Citizen Walk About is a disability and pride awareness rally and it takes place at (Lethbridge) City Hall, where we have some opening speeches from prominent community members. Then, we march from City Hall down to Galt Gardens where we have a second event set up with a lot of different types of entertainment and information for people to attend,” said Mark Davids, SAIPA’s Executive Director.

Davids said the event has been about raising awareness and inclusion, and each year has a different theme to it. He said for Friday’s event, they’ll be focusing on what’s been done in the past to make the event “as important and great as it is now.”

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“We invited a lot of different community members who have helped support that and grow the event.”

This year also marks the first time Citizen Walk About’s been held in a Southern Alberta community outside of Lethbridge.

The event will also be taking place in Medicine Hat, although the theme will be different, to separate itself from Lethbridge’s 10-year anniversary.

Citizen Walk About will be held in both Lethbridge and Medicine Hat going forward, starting this year.

“The event is open to the public and completely free and we definitely encourage as many people to come as possible because it is really important that the community comes out and sees what is being done to help improve the lives of people with disabilities,” Davids said.

He added that the City of Lethbridge has done a number of things to improve accessibility in the area and has continuously supported the Citizen Walk About.

“Every year we’ve applied for a community event support grant and we’ve always received it, which has been a big help for us for sure. The City also provides us with the space, and we’ve had speakers come out in the past to support us – and of course, we have the venues,” Davids commented.

“On a more high-level scale, the City has definitely been working on making [Lethbridge] more accessible. We just, I think it was about six months ago, had the master accessibility and master planning session where they were looking at what they can do to make the city a more accessible place, and I know that they have big plans in the works for sure.”

Davids said last year, they saw over 100 people show up for the event and he’s hoping turnout is strong once again come Friday.

“We know that the weather’s going to be a little bit colder [Friday], so we hope that that doesn’t affect us too much.”

Citizen Walk About starts at Lethbridge City Hall at 10:00 a.m. on Friday. Following the support rally, participants will march to Galt Gardens where SRSAN will host a barbeque and talent show.

All proceeds raised will support SRSAN and advocacy initiatives. SAIPA provides resources and support to SRSAN. For more details, visit saipa.info.