I write this  the sad news that the ARE-U-READY program will be coming to an end at the end of July. There will be no program coordinator (me!) for the ARE-U-READY program and consequently ARE-U-READY will no longer exist.

The good news is, the equipment will all still be available to be used and borrowed in Woodstock, All the information about where to find the equipment and how to go about borrowing it on Information Oxford. Simply go to www.InformationOxford.ca and type ARE-U-READY or Adaptive Recreation Equipment in the search bar on the top of the page. All equipment loans will now be at the discretion of the facility which they are stored. So you may have to go to the facility to use them and if they are to be loaned out,  the loan process may vary from place to place.  As well, throughout the past 4 years we have lent some of the equipment to communities/people outside Oxford County, when it there wasn’t a demand for it here. Unfortunately this means that we probably will no longer be able to do this, and there is no program coordinator to keep tabs on where all the equipment is. So sorry for the inconvenience.

If you are needing more information on the the Adaptive Recreation Equipment in Oxford County, please email areuready.oxford@gmail.com and we will point you in the right direction! Do not email the email listed at the top of this webpage or use the phone number, as they are no longer in service.

The core committee, the one people and organizations that have been with the ARE-U-READY program since the beginning, are still planning on meeting and planning the future of adaptive recreation in Oxford County, with the hopes that one day the ARE-U-READY program can restart, having already a library of equipment.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has been involved in the program at some point or another during the last 4 years. We literally built this program from an idea to a library of over 50 pieces of equipment. Not only that, but we expanded into providing a Sledge Hockey Program, adapted recreation workshops, hosted numerous sledging days, amoungst many many other things. None of this would be even remotely possible without a community like this one. I can’t tell you how many calls and emails I have gotten from around the world (seriously! There was one from Romania last week!) who can across the website,  looking to buy/borrow the equipment. Only to tell me what a proactive community this was, and they wished something like that existed in their own. If I could thank each and every person, organization or facility in this letter I would. But that would take up a little too much space, so just know that I and the ARE-U-READY committee  remember each time, every dollar and every person who spent a little bit of time helping us out. It’s appreciated more than you know.

On a personal note, I am heading back to school this fall for Graphic Design in Toronto. I have decided to take a new direction in my career and see where this takes me (hopefully far!).  I’m so excited that in 3 years I will be able to combine all the skills (business and otherwise..) I learned being the Program Coordinator for ARE-U-READY here, with Graphic Design skills I will learn, and create a new  job for myself! Keep me in mind in the next 3 years and hopefully one day you’ll be flipping through a magazine (or be watching TV or a movie or glancing at any sort of media really.. ) looking at a something I was involved in creating! It really has been such a learning experience for me here and I plan on getting involved in the Sledge Hockey program in Toronto, as it’s really been a highlight for me here.

With regards to Sledge Hockey, Kyle (our Volunteer from last year) wants to continue the program here in Woodstock on a bi-weekly basis. Please email areuready.oxford@gmail.com for more information.

-Brittany Theis, ARE-U-READY Program Coordinator