People with disabilities were in the spotlight today with a special motorcade to mark an international celebration.

Tinee Furbert, the Minister of Social Development and Seniors, said: “As a healthcare professional working with some the most vulnerable members of our community for more than a decade, I truly appreciate how excluded and marginalised our disabled clients can be from the mainstream activities of the majority of our population.

“The International Day of Persons with Disabilities presents us with an opportunity to remind the community of their existence, the love and value they bring to the lives of their friends and family.”

The motorcade set out from MWI at about 10.30am in vehicles decorated with balloons, streamers and signs designed to highlight the occasion.

It drove through Hamilton and past the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital before it returned to MWI.

Preston Swan, the vice president of clinical operations at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, said the hospital team was happy to celebrate the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Ms Furbert thanked the organisers of the event and said she hoped it would highlight Bermuda’s disabled population and the struggles they faced.

She said: “The fact they have chosen to mark it with a motorcade where many of the persons with disabilities will be chauffeured for everyone to see and cheer, is fitting.

“Members of our disabled community are so often not seen and too easily forgotten. This event is a step in addressing that.”