Often those who have a motor disability, encounter many difficulties in being able to enjoy the simple joys of life, such as swimming in the sea, the wheelchair becomes a limitation and there are very few facilities with the necessary equipment to allow those who have difficulties or motor disabilities to have access to the beach and the sea, fortunately in recent years there are more and more establishments that are equipping themselves with the necessary equipment to be able to provide a valuable aid to those with disabilities and allow them to enjoy their vacations without architectural barriers.

In “Herculaneum” a few weeks ago arrived the first beach walkway for people with disabilities that has made the beach more and more inclusive and will allow those who unfortunately are used to see the sea often only from the concrete dock, because the wheels of the wheelchair cannot move on the sand.

In the city, thanks to the synergy between associations, one of the free beach of this town very close to Naples, famous for the excavations after the Vesuvio Volcanos eruption of 79 AD, now offer a walkway for disabled access.

A synergetic action to demonstrate that the barrier on the beach are not an inaccessible limit, but an opportunity to strengthen the sense of community and equality. A walkway and two job chairs, the special wheelchairs that allow disabled people to enter directly in to the water), are at disposition for free and these facilities represent the best expression of an inclusive city.

The arrival of the walkway was made possible thanks to the organization of the civic committee of the Association “Nuovo Progetto Ercolano” which set up a fundraiser called “IL MARE E’ PER TUTTI” in which a network of associations rooted in the territory participated, together with local entrepreneurs and individual citizens who wanted to give their contribution, the associations that immediately participated in the fundraiser and have been active since the beginning in the dissemination of the initiative were: “Ercolano Viva”, “Onda Asd”, “Noi Insieme Rett”, “Dance art Studio”, “Figli del Vesuvio”, “Locanda di Emmaus” and obviously the leader of the project, the association “Nuovo Progetto Ercolano” that is not new to the issues of accessibility and that a few years ago had already committed to the challenge of installing a carousel accessible to the disabled,

The walkway was inaugurated on the beach of “Via Marittima” by the major of Herculaneum “Ciro Buonajuto”, joint by “Nicola Florio” president of the “Associazione Nuovo Progetto Ercolano”, and with “Ciro Santoro e Andrea Fiengo, municipal councilors”, and with the young “Salvatore” that is how he managed to reach the sea without any barriers.

The walkway is an extraordinary conquest considering the difficulties that my city experiences, and it is nice that this walkway is on a free beach to allow everyone to enjoy our beauty without pay anything, like entrance fee due at all the organized Italian beaches.

Herculaneum, after this dark period of pandemic, wants to restart from tourism. Culture and legality, and it is right that we can allow everyone to have access to the beach without barriers.

Thanks to the associations have helped to carry out this work and also the councilors Ciro Santoro and Andrea Fiengo who also worked physically to set up – the major Ciro Buonaiuto said.

written by #stefanosghinolfi