The Disability Resource Centre had around 250 people attend its Amazing Race event on Saturday.

Naomi Freeman, Information Services co-ordinator at the Disability Resource Centre, said the event was a great success and exceeded expectations.

“We’d had 120 people pre-register and probably thought 150 max, but it was just super busy the whole day and way more then we could have ever expected.”

Freeman said people even came down from the riverbank to see what was happening and ended up joining in the activities.

“It was honestly so fun, and just seeing people smile … what more could you want in life than just to make people happy?”

There were lots of stations for people to have fun, learn new skills, and get creative, with activities adapted for different ages and abilities.

“Lots of families came, and the feedback was that it was great to have a free community event that suited a range of ages. Even teenagers were doing it with their parents.”

One of the activities was a collaborative artwork that participants helped create throughout the day.

“We got a canvas and then I drew a butterfly on it and the word ‘inclusion’, and everybody could either put a handprint on it or do a little drawing.

“It was just so cool to have that at the end of it, and we’ve hung it up in our vocational hangout hub,” Freeman said.

Another stall created a kindness chain, where people decorated links and wrote kind messages to connect together.

Some of the organisations involved included Fire and Emergency NZ, Cycling Without Age, Eastern Bay Road Safety, Butterfly Compassion Community, DoC, Emergency Management, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and others. The stalls shared safety messages while providing fun and interactive activities.

There was also Hungerball, an inclusive soccer-style game where participants defend their own goal while trying to score in others.

Freeman said the game could also be played by people using wheelchairs.

“They had different-sized balls depending on people’s abilities. So, if anybody was in a wheelchair and wanted to join in, they could come in. They had different adaptations. It was really cool.”

The event was held at the Whakatāne Rose Gardens from 11am to 2pm.

The event was made possible through the support of volunteers and organisations from across the Eastern Bay, many of whom are connected through the Disability Resource Centre’s quarterly networking hui.