There was a jumping castle, music by local performers as well as some from Tulgeen, information stalls on programs such as INSYNC, and other stalls belonging to Riverside Nursery, Stiches and Prints and more.

Tulgeen’s client services general manager Jen Russell said the day was organised “to celebrate our clients and the diversity in our community”.

She said there had been great support from locals with the event, and many members of the public had been coming to check out everything during the day.

“The main thing is people with a disability are having a great time,” Tulgeen CEO Pete Gorton said.

According to Mr Gorton, the day had been “fantastic” and it had perfect, warm weather.

Also at the gardens, Silas Dunstan from Morgans in Merimbula presented a cheque for $1500 towards supporting Tulgeen’s Christmas party, and was in talks about contributing more assistance in the future.

“We are very committed to participating in local community sponsorship and charities,” Mr Dunstan said.

Tulgeen is also currently trialling a Christmas pageant this year and may make it more public next year.

Ms Russell said it was an exciting time in disability, as they were heading into the “new world” of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

As there are a lot of assessments still to perform, she said the NDIS won’t be fully implemented in NSW until 2018 and it involves funding each person individually.

While Mr Gorton said the NDIS “won’t be all plain sailing” he believed it was going to be successful.

As it won’t be implemented in the Bega Valley for a couple of years, Mr Gorton said in the meantime Tulgeen would be getting as much organised “in the back office” as possible.

“Primarily, we’re quite insistent on making sure our clients notice very little change,” he said.

A future improvement for Tulgeen Mr Gorton said it is considering is using solar energy, so the group can save money otherwise spent on electricity for services.

A small solar system was installed last year, which has already generated savings for the group.

As Tulgeen was founded in 1975, next year is the 40th anniversary of the service and it is running a history project for the occasion.

Mr Gorton said anyone who has been involved with Tulgeen in any way over the years is invited to get in contact with the group, by calling 6499 0800.