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| Below are e-mails between Phil Johnston and Jim O'Brien,
CEO, NSW Wheelchair Sports Association which confirm that NSW
Wheelchair Sports Association offers 'in principle' support for the
campaign to assist blind and disabled Australians purchase a tandem or hand
cycle, however, as Jim points out in the immediate below e-mail
his charity's administrative resources are quite limited
From: Jim O'Brien [mailto:job@nswwsa.org.au]
Sent: Friday, 4 August 2006 2:53 PM To: Johnston, Phil Cc: Patrick Cameron; daver@nswwsa.org.au Subject: RE: I seek you to read 'Adopt a Blind Cyclist' and consider whether it can be expanded to include other disabled people who want to ride hand bikes Phil
I've read all your material and I must
congratulate you on your initiative.
And yes it is all about inclusion and improving the quality of lives for
those with a disability. As a consequence it also improves the quality of
the lives of people who give.
I can't see any issue with us getting
involved and lending our name to your initiative. Obviously the end result
would be providing additional sporting and recreational opportunities for
our members. Would it not?
The only possible problem as I see it, is
the cost of providing Handcycles to those with a spinal cord injury. As you
are aware Handcycles are an exorbitant cost and so much more expensive than
bikes. Also with my staffing situation I am not in a position to provide
staff to canvass Corporates for sponsorship.
Happy to lend our name to any joint
correspondence and to provide tax deductible receipting.
I'm not exactly certain but is this all you
require from us?
Regards,
Jim O'Brien
CEO, NSW Wheelchair Sports Association
Ph: (02) 9809 5260
Fax: (02) 9809 5638
From: Johnston, Phil [mailto:phil.johnston@cba.com.au] Sent: Friday, 4 August 2006 2:01 PM To: Jim O'Brien Subject: FW: I seek you to read 'Adopt a Blind Cyclist' and consider whether it can be expanded to include other disabled people who want to ride hand bikes Jim
Re my below e-mail to
you, and out phone chat last Monday week.
I have established that
Bicycle NSW enjoys deductible gift recipient status because it falls
within The Bicycle NSW Environmental Trust ABN 31 583 611 736 which is
listed on the Register of Environmental Organisations as established under
item 6.1.1 of subsection 30–55(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act, 1997.
Hence, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.
I am prepared to
officially ask BNSW to join with interested charities associated with
helping the blind and disabled to obtain such machinery as tandems and hand
cycles, where recreational cycle groups adopt the blind/disabled person into
their ride group.
As mentioned, I have
evidenced a significant transforation in the mindset of CEOs who these days
welcome being seen as assisting disabled people, particularly from within
their company, provided there is a clear audit trail that donations from
their employees go to the disabled person(s).
I know blind people who
are crying out for financial and physical support/assistance in order to
improve their quality of life thru sport such as cycling. I have cycled
with several of them.
I imagine that you know
paras and quads who would similarly welcome financial assistance from a
company who opted to adopt them and physical support/assistance from a local
recreational ride group or perhaps even a swimming club which picked them up
and dropped them home.
If you would like to
talk further with me re
Adopt a Blind Cyclist including people with
spinal disabilities, I welcome your 'phone call.
There isn't any monetary
cost to your charity, or any charity, apart from postage to say an initial
mail out to 30 or so major companies which I will happily pay to get the
appeal started. However, the opportunity to get your charity's name, and
the name of a charity for the blind (say Blind Citizens Australia), as well
as Bicycle NSW, in front of the CEOs of major companies (and their staff
welfare clubs) could provide opportunities for financial assistance for some
of your patients.
What I am proposing
isn't Rocket Scientist stuff. It is about two charities, and a cycling
organisation with a capacity to issue receipts jointly writing on the same
letter head to the CEOs of large companies asking if their company has a
blind or disabled employee which their employees would like to contribute
the cost of a tandem or hand cycle.
Some CEOs might respond
that their company doesn't have a blind or disabled employee, however, the
CEO would be happy to encourage his employees to adopt a disabled person
from outside his company, provide -
(a) an audit trail
established that all donations went directly towards the cost of the
equipment, and
(b) tax receipts were
issued.
Either way, disabled
people may receive an opportunity to enhance their quality of life where
donors -
(i) evidenced
transparency for their donations; and
(ii) received updates
on the progress of the person they adopted.
Cheers
Phil Johnston
From: Johnston, Phil Sent: Monday, 24 July 2006 6:54 PM To: 'Jim O'Brien' Subject: FW: I seek you to read 'Adopt a Blind Cyclist' and consider whether it can be expanded to include other disabled people who want to ride hand bikes
I refer to
my 'phone call to you early this
afternoon.
I was told
that Bicycle NSW was a registered charity. I
will check further with BNSW about that. However,
the above URL from BNSW's website
pronounces that all donations to
BNSW >$2 are tax deductible, meaning BNSW issues a receipt.
I welcome you reading my below 2
e-mails to you.
I have ridden with 4 blind cyclists on
tandems, with over a dozen of those rides exceeding 100km.
I think there is scope for -
(i) large companies to donate to cover the cost of hand bicycles and tandem bicycles where they evidence all their donation monies going to the disabled person they nominate.
(ii) recreational cycle groups to
assist blind and spinal disabled people ride in recreational ride
groups.
If after reading my below two e-mails,
and the URLs therein, you would like the scope of this project to
include spinal disabled people which are keen to get a hand cycle, I
welcome hearing from you.
Phil Johnston
From: Johnston, Phil Sent: Tuesday, 11 July 2006 11:40 AM To: 'Jim O'Brien' Cc: 'Kelvin Smith - Moorong Spinal Unit'; Sean Murphy Subject: RE: I seek you to read 'Adopt a Blind Cyclist' and consider whether it can be expanded to include other disabled people who want to ride hand bikes Jim
I should
have held off sending you my below e-mail a day or so, because yesterday I
rec'd the above letter from Dept of Health & Ageing which -
(i)
commends my enthusiasm to assist blind people tandem cycle;
(ii)
refers me to the Australian Bicycle Council;
(iii)
informs the Dept of Health & Ageing has sponsored a Ride to Work Day in
2007; and
(iv)
wishes me success with Adopt a Blind Cyclist.
There is
nothing particularly insightful in the above attached response, but at least
it is supportive.
I
believe that with the right planning and implementation some able bodied
Australians will be prepared to -
(a)
assist disabled and blind people towards the cost of tandem and hand cycles
when they know every cent is going directly twds the cost of such equipment;
and
(b)
assist disabled and blind people ride in recreational cycle groups, because
cycling offers opportunities which most other sports do not.
As a
result, interested blind and disabled people will likely materially enhance
their quality of life, as I have evidenced with the blind people who have
ridden on tandems with me.
Two
blind males that I know, Toby Sullivan and Andrew Devenish-Meares would
welcome some assistance -
(I.)
towards the cost of a tandem (from donations which are tax deductible), and
(II.)
support on rides from local cycling groups.
I expect
that people adjusting to paraplegia or quadriplegia would be even more in
need of such support.
When I
was developing a website for mountain climbers,
www.KOMpm.com I obtained the above
attached declaration from Peter Allen in WA who considers that his hand
cycle has allowed him to extend his social opportunities. I am mindful that
John McLean's feats are exceptional. However, with encouragement and
support, others may be able to follow.
I am
prepared to give it a try. If there are a few charities associated with
blind and disabled who are similarly prepared to give it a go on the basis
outlined in
Adopt a Blind Cyclist and my below e-mail, I
welcome chatting with you.
Cheers
Phil
Johnston
From: Johnston, Phil Sent: Monday, 10 July 2006 11:25 AM To: 'Jim O'Brien' Cc: 'Kelvin Smith - Moorong Spinal Unit'; Sean Murphy Subject: I seek you to read 'Adopt a Blind Cyclist' and consider whether it can be expanded to include other disabled people who want to ride hand bikes
Jim
c.c.
Kelvin
I
chatted with you at Moorong a year ago re seeking to assist disabled people
ride hand bikes in recreational ride groups - below is my post meeting
e-mail to Kel and yourself.
(My dad
was a patient at Moorong 10 years earlier when a roof collapsed, so I am
familiar with spinal injuries.)
If you
click on
Adopt a Blind Cyclist you will read that I
have been busy in the last 12 months cycling with several blind people on
tandems.
I have
ridden over 100km tandem rides on recreational group rides with 4 different
blind cyclists on approx 20 Sundays. The longest being 126km from Hornsby
to Wyong via Spencer. Our Sunday group size varies from 5 to 15 cyclists.
The
purpose of this e-mail is ask if NSW Wheelchair Sports Association would
like to work with two other charities to jointly approach the CEOs of 150
Top Australian Companies to enquiry if their company has a blind or disabled
person on their staff who would like financial assistance to purchase a
tandem or hand bicycle.
The
other two charities would be:
* one
directly associated with cycling which already has charity status, and
* a
leading charity for the blind.
The
business model which is explained in
Adopt a Blind Cyclist is self-auditing and
entails the fellow employees of the company donating twds the cost of the
tandem or hand cycle for their disabled work colleague, where they each
receive a tax deductible receipt and every cent goes twds between 50% and
80% of the cost of the bicycle.
I
believe the model can be expanded where after the staff assist a fellow work
colleague, then the company itself may donate twds a disabled person who
doesn't work for the company.
I work
for age company and CEOs are very keen to support charities where -
(i)
their employees directly assist someone they know of, and
(ii)
all the donated monies goes directly twds the disabled person.
I can
readily provide you the phone numbers of the blind people who have ridden if
you would like to chat with them. I have c.c. Sean Murphy who is blind and
rode on the back of a tandem with me yesterday on a 93km ride.
Phil
Johnston
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