Empowering disabled people through music

The Cavan organisation WOW stands for "winners on wheels" and its members are mainly people who are wheelchair bound. However this futuristic organisation founded by Cavan Town lady, Amanda O"Keefe is not exclusively confined to people in wheelchairs. Many people with various other forms of disability have been joining to experience an exciting new and energising outlook on life. The organisation was founded on 11th July last year and has now attained charitable status. They are holding the Wheelchair Dance Workshop on Saturday 11th July in the Sports Leisure Complex at Drumalee and the registration takes place at 9.30am. The dancing will commence at 10.30 and go right through until 5pm. There are two professional dance teachers, Ruth and Sue Cunnin, coming over to the event from England. Amanda O"Keefe has already attended a dance workshop they gave in Coleraine last October. It is open to all age groups and to both powered and manual chair users. Those who do not have the capacity to self propel a wheelchair are asked to bring someone along with them who will aid them to dance. There will be all types of dancing on show on the day including combi- dancing, jive, waltz and line dancing. For example all those in wheelchairs who are doing line dancing will form up in lines and they will push their wheelchairs back and forward in unison with the various steps involved. 'They can dance with two wheelchairs together on they can dance with an able bodied person and the wheelchair. It is absolutely incredible to watch. They move in tandem with the music and obviously in formation', explained Amanda. There will be spare wheelchairs there on the day so that able bodied people can sit into them and experience at first hand what it is like to control a wheelchair. The organisation meets in the Irish Wheelchair Centre at Corlurgan Business Park on the first Friday of each month. 'On those nights we focus on our own activities like wheelchair basketball, wheelchair football and the aim of the WOW Group is to promote sport and recreation'. They also go wheelchair ice skating in Dundalk Ice Dome and they go onto the ice with their own wheelchairs and the Ice Hockey team in Dundalk actually comes in to skate with them. 'Generally there is a focus on social inclusion for the children in the wheelchairs. We have been officially adopted by the Harley Davidson Bikers Gaelic Chapter Ireland. They have been very good to us and helped us to fundraise', said Amanda. Advertising for the Wheelchair dancing has been funded by Cavan Partnership. 'We have also received funding from Cavan County Council, the Catherine Howard Foundation and Pobal'. Amanda O"Keefe is the founder, Chairperson and PRO of the Organisation and she has now been invited on to the CRAIC advisory group. CRAIC stands for creating reasonable accommodation in Cavan by Cavan County Council. Denise O"Reilly is the Secretary and Co-Founder, while Carmel Smith is the treasurer and committee members include Audrey McDowell and Avril Bleakley. There are currently six wheelchair users in the group together with various other young people with various forms of disability. People of all ages and those with disabilities and none are invited to go along to the Wheelchair Dancing on Saturday 11th July. It will also give people who intend to work with children with special needs a unique insight into how lives can be transformed for people in wheelchairs. 'If you come along you will experience at first hand positivity towards disability', says Amanda. Amanda"s son Dillon who is a wheelchair user was the real inspiration for the founding of WOW. Amanda was the first to have her vehicle adapted for wheelchair use and now the other parents have followed suit. 'We went to Dublin Zoo last month and we could not get into the disabled toilet and now we have obtained universal disabled toilet keys and we will never have to face that barrier again', states Amanda. They work closely with the Access Officer in Cavan County Council, Emma Breidin. People still park in disabled parking spaces in Cavan town and are quite rude when requested to move. Audrey McDowell from the Crossdoney area explained that her 7 year old son Jamie is a wheelchair user and really enjoys all the activities as part of WOW. Carmel Smith from Ballinagh explained that her 12 year old daughter is a wheelchair user and she loves all the activities and the friends she has made by joining WOW. Denise O"Reilly from Ballyhaise and living in Cavan Town says her 8 year old son Reece is also a wheelchair user. 'He loves all the fun activities and he is a really bubbly and sociable child. It is great for us adults to be in a position to meet others who are in a similar position to ourselves. We get support from each other'.