Carleton’s fitness centre has received a new set of gym equipment after last year’s fundraiser for machines that are accessible for students with physical disabilities.
The Carleton Disability Awareness Centre (CDAC); FutureFunder; Research, Education, Accessibility, and Design Initiative; and the Carleton Athletics Centre collaborated on the initiative.
CDAC spearheaded the project. Nathan Bragg, a fourth-year journalism student and program co-ordinator at CDAC, said the new equipment will make a huge difference.
“It’s going to make a large difference because students with mobility issues can work on their fitness goals, and they can do this independently without having to ask for help,” Bragg said.
According to Bragg, the campaign took longer than expected to get the equipment in place.
“The idea came to me early October of last year by a few students. I had already been thinking about it but it made me realize this really was an issue,” he said. “We met with athletics a few times and then we started planning the FutureFunder campaign in November.”
Carleton’s Alumni and Donor Relations department was also involved in the FutureFunder campaign.
“We would certainly define the Accessible Fitness Fund project that was featured on the FutureFunder earlier this year as a success,” said spokesperson Pia Chin in an email.
The equipment has been added to an accessible area of the gym, and includes a wheelchair treadmill, a SCIFIT hand cycle machine, and a rope machine.
Bragg said reactions to the equipment have been really positive so far.
“The reaction has been really good. It isn’t just students who are using them, they are accessible for everyone,” Bragg said.
“The changes made had to do with the angles in which students can swivel out and make it easier for students to use them,” Bragg added.
The campaign spread awareness about the inaccessibility of fitness equipment for students with disabilities.
Chin said the main goal of the project was increasing awareness about the challenges students with disabilities face when working out on campus.
She said the students reached their goal when they launched the FutureFunder. According to Chin, the initiative spread a lot of awareness and aided in completing the project.
“The project was shared widely on social media (Facebook and Twitter) they were interviewed by local media (including the Charlatan) about their initiative, and students/faculty/staff supported the project with their donations,” Chin said via email.
“They were both so passionate about this initiative, it led to them raising 70 per cent of their goal,” Chin said.
The project was supported by Carleton, including Carleton Athletics, which made it possible to update the fitness centre and make it more accessible for a large number of students.
“I’m really happy as to how this made a difference. The school is very accessible but athletics hadn’t really been updated yet and there wasn’t many ways for students with a disability to reach their fitness goals without asking someone else for help,” Bragg said.
“This equipment allows students to come on their own time,” he said. “I’m really happy as to how it turned out and I know this will be around for 10 years and have a lasting impact.”
