Masterton Mobility Scooter Club members June Tainsh, left, Shirley Walker, and Marg Bulmer, fundraising to support firefighters in Australia. PHOTO/HAYLEY GASTMEIER
Hayley Gastmeier
Masterton Mobility Scooter Club members are raffling off the prize they won for their creative Christmas parade ‘floats’ and are donating proceeds to firefighters battling the bushfires in Australia.
Members from the group, which formed last year, decorated their mobility scooters and rode them in the Masterton Christmas Parade.
Their tinsel-laden ‘floats’ won third place, with the prize being a $50 Paper Plus voucher and a McDonald’s voucher.
Club members sat outside Countdown Masterton last week raffling off the prizes for a good cause.
Marg Bulmer, who founded the group, said people were “pouring in” to donate, with many giving money without taking a raffle ticket.
As one woman dropped a $5 note into the bucket, she said “they deserve it”, referring to the firefighters working over the ditch.
She said the loss of wildlife was heart breaking.
“If I stop crying all the time, I’ll be all right.”
The group sold more than 200 tickets for $1 each but raised $360 which would be transferred into a fund to support the firefighting effort.
Supporting the cause had been suggested by Wally Aldridge, who the group credits with their third prize victory due to his snowman decorated scooter.
Marg said the club was about advocacy, teaching scooter-riding etiquette, and making friends.
“A lot of people don’t realise that you don’t ride a mobility scooter for fun – you do it because your legs don’t work.
“It’s about building skills and friendships and having fun.”
Percy Purcell enjoyed being a member of the club because it gave him “something to do and the people are friendly”.
Shirley Walker said, “We get out and do things, we learn how to use our mobility scooters – we share information about them and where we can and can’t go.”
Marg said the club had been on group outings to Henley Lake and enjoyed discovering new scooter friendly tracks.
- The Masterton Mobility Scooter Club meets at the Senior Citizen’s Hall on the corner of Cole and Perry streets on the last Monday of each month at 10am.
