Cyclists raise funds for vocational centre for the disabled

By The Nation 

 

 

A project to raise funds for a vocational training centre for the disabled kicked off on Sunday with a cycling trip for vision-impaired people.

 

The project called “No One Left Behind”, a first in Thailand, involved 20 vision-impaired people and another 20 volunteers who will ride on two-seater bikes from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, the chairman of Universal Foundation for Persons with Disabilities, Professor Wiriya Namsiripongpun, said during the launch.

 

Wiriya said there were more than 500,000 people with disabilities who were unemployed, and the foundation is focusing on empowering them and helping them create jobs and an income.

 

The charity event will fund the construction of the training centre in Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province.

 

The current training centre in Mae Rim district is too small with not enough training space, Wiriya said, adding that the new 33-rai site is more spacious and can serve a greater number of disabled people.

 

The cycling trip started in Bangkok on Sunday and will arrive in Chiang Dao on February 5. The teams will cycle for nine days, crossing nine provinces over a distance of 867 kilometres. 

 

The starting point was the football pitch of Thammasat University, Thaprachan. 

 

After Bangkok, the cyclists will pass through Suphan Buri, Chai Nat, Nakhon Sawan, Phitsanulok, Uttaradit, Prae and Lampang provinces and will finish in Chiang Mai province. 

 

Throughout the journey, there will be fundraising activities arranged by members of the public to collect money for the cyclists. Other activities will be organised to demonstrate the potential of blind people.

 

The charity’s activities can be followed atFacebook.com/Universalfoundation, on the web at www.wiriya.org, or with the hashtag #NoOneLeftBehind.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30337340

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-01-29

What a fantastic venture, and not before time! People with different abilities are treated appallingly in Thailand! 500,000 unemployed simply because they have some sort of perceived "disability", outrageous! Good luck to these courageous, intrepid cyclists on their tandem. May God keep them safe on this epic journey :-)

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Interesting that this news item has no comments apart from mine!

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