Train adventures give participants choice & control

June 27, 2025

For the day program participants at Disability Futures Waitara, the perfect day out involves a hot coffee and a train adventure. “Many of the participants are fascinated by trains,” says Activity Leader, Ashley. “But COVID lockdowns affected their ability to get out into the community and travel on trains.”   

As life slowly returned to normal following the lockdowns, a few of the program participants and their parents approached the team to suggest the introduction of a train tripping activity. “My daughter, Elizabeth was keen to get back onto trains again and I knew she could benefit from something different to do,” says Moira who was one of the parents to suggest the activity.   

They pick a station for the day and travel there by train from Waitara. Once they arrive at their destination, they are presented with the places of interest to choose from. “This activity is about bringing choice back to participants,” says Area Coordinator, Philip. “Now that life is back to normal, we can diversify the services on offer and let them choose their activities.”   

“Our first trip was to Lindfield,” says Ashley. “It has good wheelchair access and there is a village green nearby with cafes and pretty scenery, so it was a great location for our first trip.” The trip to Chatswood was also well-received by participants, with McDonald’s being the most popular lunch stop. “Coffee and chips are shared areas of interest!” notes Ashley.   

Ashley says that participants have responded very positively to this new activity.

“Families have commented on how wonderful it is to see such happy smiles in the photos,” says Ashley.

“We do the trips fortnightly, and we can see that they are now starting to anticipate the next one.”   

For Elizabeth, train tripping has contributed to her overall enjoyment of life. “It’s great to see her doing something different that she really loves,” says Moira.   

When participants and their parents have their voices heard, wonderful things can happen. The words ‘choice and control’ are bandied about a lot in the disability space, but this story shows how crucial they are to a person’s wellbeing and happiness.