That is what two new and improved floating wheelchairs will provide community members at Bar Beach.

Cooks Hill Surf Life Saving Club (CHSLSC) offer a Same Waves program, giving kids living with a disability the opportunity to enjoy time on the beach and in the water.

It is run concurrently with the club’s nipper program on Sunday mornings throughout the surf-lifesaving season.

“We do have a lot of elite athletes that excel in competition but we have close to 2000 members in our club and what is growing is a sense of inclusion,” CHSLSC Same Waves co-ordinator John Mayo said.

“People know that at Cooks Hill you’ll get a go and you can enjoy the surf and you can enjoy the beach.”

The club already has beach wheelchairs but Mayo said the new versions provided much better beach and surf access for those with no mobility.

The new chairs, known as B1 and B2 for their Bananas in Pyjamas look, have added buoyancy in the arms and more support through feet straps.

“On Christmas Day, we had a lady in her 60s who is a quadriplegic come down,” he said. “We took her into the water and the first comment she made was, ‘I have not been to the beach since becoming a quadriplegic’. She also made the comment that she could secure her legs because of the leg strap.”

The two chairs were donated to the surf club by Variety – the Children’s Charity NSW.

Variety NSW Regional Director Jason Bourke, an age manager with CHSLSC, said: “Every child deserves the opportunity to enjoy a day at the beach and to learn how to stay safe in the water irrespective of their physical or intellectual needs.” 

Nine-year-old Amelia Musgrave has been part of the Same Waves program for four years.

The Adamstown Heights nine-year-old has a range of rare illnesses which makes her blind, epileptic and unable to walk. 

Her mother Jane Musgrave described the program as “just brilliant”.