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Corfu Deputy Mayor Helps People with Disabilities Enjoy the Beach

Social Affairs, Solidarity and Volunteer Counselor of the Corfu Municipality, Andreas Skoumbouras, took the initiative to make the beach fun for people who are physically disabled, says an Athens-Macedonia News Agency report.
Skoumbouras told AMNA that Corfu was the first island in Greece that gave wheelchair users the chance to reach the water and fully enjoy it, by using the floating wheelchairs and direct access ramps in the water that have been placed on many beaches of the island.
Having mobility problems himself, after three years of initiatives and efforts, the deputy mayor has managed to install nine floating wheelchairs on the island’s most popular beaches that give joy and satisfaction to everyone who had previous difficulties to access the water.
The beaches that host the floating trolleys have gained notoriety worldwide, as they give the opportunity to tourists with mobility problems to come from all over the world and enjoy their holidays. The floating wheelchairs are installed in the beaches of Dassia, Gouvia, Alykes Potamos, Bouka Lefkimmi, Agios Georgios Argyradon, Moraitika, Sidari, Agios Georgios Pagon and Arillas, while in the effort to facilitate the people with moving disabilities, ramps with direct access to the water, can be found at NEAK, Dasia, Gouvia, Ipsos, Agios Ioannis Peristeron, in Paleokastritsa, and in Benitses.
The immediate plans of the municipality are to make Corfu the first destination in the Mediterranean with regard to beaches accessible to people with physical disabilities.
“Floating wheelchairs provide easy access to the beach, and help movement on the sand, but also the possibility of moving in the water. The floats offer great stability on the water surface,” Skoumbouras said.
“Our goal is to reach 25 wheelchairs so that we can cover most of the well-known beaches of Corfu,” Skoumbouras said, pointing out that by 2019 Corfu will claim the prize for friendliness in the annual European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT).

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