Over the years, many people in our communities have had the chance to visit Have A Go Days – a free, open-invite, no-registration, drop-in opportunity to visit us, try out Power To Be’s programs, and meet our community partners. As we reflect on our past 25 years, now is a great time to share the story of Have A Go Days in both Victoria and Vancouver: where we’ve been, where we’re at, and where we’d like to go.
Victoria
Have A Go Days have been running in Victoria for over 7 years. Currently, these days take place 6-8x/year at our beautiful home base on the shore of Prospect Lake. However, when we started out, we didn’t have enough buildings, washrooms, or lakefront infrastructure to support Have A Go Days, so our teams would haul gear, paddles, canoes, boards, and all of our other equipment to Elk and Beaver Lake from Prospect and from our downtown office on Wharf Street. Program Lead Em McFarland Oliemans explains, “the buildings, accessibility features, and dock of our new site have had an immeasurable impact on our capacity to run our programs.” Our first Have A Go Day had 12 attendees, so it’s exciting to see how much this initiative has grown over these past 7 years: we consistently have 60-90 community members visit Have A Go Days now.
Have A Go Days in Victoria include canoeing, inclusive hiking with adaptive technology (the TrailRider), arts and crafts, and quiet accessible spaces. Partner organizations also engage in Have A Go Days: for example, Rocky Point Bird Observatory has brought a bird learning booth and digital microscope, the CRD has led nature interpretation, Saanich’s Parks, Recreation, and Community Services has led disc golf and actually loaned their disc golf set to us for this summer, CrossFit LifeTree led an adaptive CrossFit program, and the RAD Recreation Adapted Society has shared adaptive equipment. Em says, “our goal is that everyone is going to find something that they can do and are excited about.”
One of our long-time participants who often attends Have A Go Days said recently, “I’m so glad that these days exist so that we can do stuff like this together.” Em adds, “the beauty of Have A Go Days is there’s no fee, registration, or RSVP. It is open to everyone, no questions asked, and enables anyone to access our programs year-round.”
Vancouver
We recently held a tremendously successful Have A Go Day in partnership with Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish. As a result of the open, drop-in invite, and Sea to Sky Gondola’s waiver of the usual access cost, which made this a free program, 75 people attended. We ran accessible hiking loops and an interpretive nature program. “Interestingly, this partnership day was a bit of a full-circle moment,” says Marin Puffer, Community Engagement and Education Lead, explaining that the partnership between Sea to Sky Gondola and Power To Be has been ongoing and growing over several years. Marin continues, “Power To Be has led accessible recreation workshops to teach Sea to Sky Gondola staff how to improve support for their participants, and this Have A Go Day was an opportunity to see these learnings in action.” (Power To Be teaches workshops about inclusion and accessibility throughout Vancouver and Victoria. Check out this blog for another example: a story about our work with NatureKids).
The impact of the Sea To Sky Gondola Have a Go Day for community members was considerable. Marin shared that she conversed with an attendee who explained that her family had not yet had the chance to visit the Sea to Sky Gondola because of concerns about access. She had worried that it could be a poor fit for her family’s access needs, but she said that being able to drop in and attend with the support of Power To Be and Sea To Sky Gondola’s trained staff meant that they could try it with low risk. Marin continues, “we saw a lot of families, a lot of new Canadians, and a lot of people who were new to BC or Squamish. It was a great chance to make new community connections.” She said that one long-time local community member had never before had the chance to see all of her community and region from above: a certainly emotional moment!
As a result of this most successful Vancouver Have A Go Day so far, our plan is to run 3-4 more by the end of 2023 in partnership with the Vancouver Parks Board. The hope is to host them throughout the region, perhaps in parks that people have never accessed before, amplifying connection with local community organizations. Keep watching our social media for announcements about dates and locations!
Marin says, “Have A Go Days are an opportunity to invite community members to try our programs throughout the year with no commitment.” We look forward to continuing to grow, hone, and expand our Have A Go Days as the years go by. Stay tuned on our social media for ongoing Have A Go Day date announcements.
For more information about our Have A Go Days, including important information on what to bring, how to prepare, and more details on what to expect, please visit our website.