CANBERRA gadfly, writer and passionate advocate for disabled people, Don Allan, who died in October after a short illness, is to be remembered in a name change to the charity he founded.

Following its recent AGM, the board of the ACT Association for Advancing Disabled Sport (ACTAADS) confirmed it had decided to call the organisation The Allan Key, a name Don had modestly agreed to just weeks before his death.

“The board had been discussing a name change for some time but despite a number of ideas coming forward, none really hit the mark,” said  association president Jeff House.

“Then one of our directors suggested The Allan Key and, if you’ll excuse the pun, it simply was a perfect fit.

“The whole purpose of our organisation is to raise money and then provide grants to people with disabilities to help them unlock their potential and build a better future and there was a terrific and appropriate link between what we do, Don’s last name and allen keys which are used to put things together – to build things. We thought the theme was perfect for us.”

Don was the association’s long-serving secretary and the driving force behind the creation of ACTAADS, as it was called then. He set up the ACT Paralympic Committee in 1994, which evolved into ACTAADS and, over its history, more than $400,000 has been provided in grants. All without a cent of government funding.

“Don’s the reason why we exist and that’s why we’ve chosen to honour him and his memory through this name change,” said Jeff.

Jeff said The Allan Key had a very simple mission to raise money and then provide grants to individuals who have disabilities to enable them to pursue their interests and goals in life.

“People with disabilities are great contributors. They are creative, productive and know about hard work and effort to overcome adversity, Jeff said.

“Sometimes achieving their goals requires a little bit of financial help and that’s what we do. There are no free rides though – each grant is awarded on the basis of an application which has to demonstrate that the money will be well spent and go towards something bigger and better.

“It’s about providing a bit of seed capital if you will.

“We’re always on the lookout for corporate sponsors, who receive naming rights to a grant and the advertising that goes along with that. If any business would like to talk about sponsorship opportunities, please contact me at theallankey@gmail.com”

Donation enquiries to theallankey@gmail.com or visit via actaads.org