Access Assessments & Sensitisation Training
Jeremy Hazell brings a broad range of skills to his current work in the fields of access auditing and sensitisation training. He draws on experience gained from over twenty years in the financial services sector, followed by two decades in public relations and event management for the wine and hospitality industries.
Jeremy was paralysed in a fall on Table Mountain in 1998, and has been a wheelchair user ever since. Though he continued to work as a PR & Wine Consultant for many years after his accident, Jeremy was drawn from the early 2010s into an area that he now finds more meaningful and significant on a personal level.
Living with a physical disability has sensitised Jeremy to the host of challenges faced daily by people in built environments. His current work therefore brings him the satisfaction of contributing to making our buildings and urban environments usable for everyone. He is also able to raise awareness in workplaces and society at large of the barriers faced by people living with disabilities. These are quests he shares with inclusive-minded people towards a better world for all.
Volunteer Work
In his spare time, Jeremy actively contributes to various organisations providing important support and services in the disability sector.
Jeremy is the Chairman of a PBO known as ChangeAbility [formerly Helderberg APD (Association for Persons with Disabilities)]. He has served as an active mentor in ChangeAbility’s Peer Support Programme, and participates in its public Disability Awareness initiatives.
He also serves as Vice-Chairman on the Management Committee of the Western Cape APD.
Jeremy was a fundraiser for The Rachel Swart Fund. In April 2014, he became the first person to complete the 56 km Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon in a wheelchair. Through this massive undertaking, he raised more than R85k for the Fund, thus enabling them to provide motorised wheelchairs and other mobility aids to people from underprivileged communities in the Western Cape. Jeremy has also supported The Rachel Swart Fund through participating in the 21 km Old Mutual Two Oceans Half Marathon, in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017.