Employees from Gunnedah Workshop Enterprises (GWE) gathered last Friday, to celebrate a special day that recognises people with disabilities.
International Day of People with Disability is held on December 3 each year and aims to “increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities,” according to its dedicated website.
It has become a tradition for GWE to celebrate on the closest Friday to the date.
The day’s commemoration was the perfect opportunity to get the workers into the community but GWE’s Ray Gaynor said it serves another purpose.
“It is a thank you for a hard year of work,” he said.
Ray is the main man behind the celebration, with the help of wife Lyn and other members of the workshop. He has watched the event became a tradition throughout the years.
“The first one I went to was a barbecue out at the wildlife park. That was 15 years ago and then we decided to try [it at the club].”
For 14 years, Club Gunnedah has provided the lunch and the venue. With it comes the perfect opportunity for a games day.
People attending ultimately decided against lawn bowls on Friday, as rain threatened to pour down.
It was instead celebrated around the pool table with a game of ‘kelly pool’.
Each player picked a ball, with the winner being the last one sunk.
“There is nothing better than knocking the boss’s ball down,” Ray said.
It is not only Club Gunnedah that looked after the team. Sponsors were plenty this year with Ray stating they usually have about 20 but this year was up to 36.
They collected sponsorships from different businesses in Gunnedah and beyond in Tamworth and Newcastle.
Each employee went home with a goodie bag valued at about $100 thanks to those sponsors.
“We ended up with about five caps in each bag – everyone has caps and stubby holders,” Ray said.
“This year, we even gave the parents a bag too.”
There was a raffle with eleven major prizes ranging anywhere between $30 – $300. Everyone went home with a prize.
Jamie Hinton, Edith Chavula and Cam Shaw.
Sam Sims serving up the hot food.
Conor Roberts.
Bj and Wayne Bassett.
Jesse Hinton, Bec Ayton and Laura Reeves.
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