A royal Club Aruma event

There was excitement buzzing in Sydney Harbour as our Club Aruma participants, waited alongside 10,000 other Royal fans to catch a glimpse of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla on their Australian visit.

The participants and their support staff watched as the Royals made their way down the Opera House steps and right up to the crowd, where they started shaking hands and sharing well wishes.

“I received the official invitation from the NSW Premier’s Department, Event Accessibility and Inclusion Team, who my daughter used to work for. We were in our own section of around 100 people, and the King and Queen came right up to our section. We were standing just behind the attendees in wheelchairs, who all received a handshake from the King and Queen. It was a very surreal experience that we will all be talking about for a long time to come,” said Jasmin De Guzman, Service Lead for Community.

“It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Even though we only saw them for about 5 minutes, it was a great experience. Everyone was positive, and we all felt so lucky to be there,” continued Jasmin.

It was a long day. The team arrived at around 2:30 p.m. and patiently waited in their seats until the Royals arrived at 4.30 p.m. While they waited, helicopters flew over and waved the Australian flag. Catchy tunes were also playing to keep everyone’s energy up.

“Our participants did amazing. They were cool, calm and collected the whole day and really made the most of it. Sydney also turned on the weather for the Royals, and it was a beautiful day to be out on the harbour,” said Jasmin.

We can’t wait to see what adventure Club Aruma gets up to next.