大象传媒

Imagine living in a world that鈥檚 not designed for you.聽

Designability is a national charity who create equality of opportunity for disabled people, by removing barriers to independence, enabling them to live the life they choose.

Borne out of a partnership between the Royal United Hospital and the University of Bath in the 1960s, the charity has created over 300 products, improving the lives of more than 300,000 people.

Following a person-centred design approach, and by聽including disabled people at each point of the design process, we ensure their ideas and lived experiences are taken on board and that what we create reflects people鈥檚 needs as well as products they want to use.

Best known for our iconic Wizzybug powered wheelchairs for very young disabled children, we聽want to expand the reach of our products and services and enable thousands of young disabled children in the UK to be independently mobile.

With your help we can continue to develop innovative products, to help disabled people live with more freedom and choice, every day. Products like our accessible pushchair for wheelchair users, which聽helps address one of the main inequalities disabled parents and carers face; the ability to take their babies and very young children out independently.

We will also work to establish better access to transport for disabled people, allowing them to be independently mobile when using different methods of transport.聽

We want a world that鈥檚 fit for everybody, where disabled people can live the life they choose.

I鈥檓 honoured to be supporting this appeal for Designability, a charity that creates products and services to help disabled people live with greater choice and independence.聽

As a wheelchair user, I have first-hand experience of many of the challenges that Designability works hard to address every day.聽

To date, Designability have given out 1,300 free Wizzybug powered wheelchairs to disabled children in the UK, enabling them to have the independence to play and explore as they choose.

More recently, they have developed a groundbreaking accessible pushchair for wheelchair users, which offers disabled parents and carers true freedom for the first time. The charity聽estimates that there are around 20,000 disabled parents in the UK alone who could benefit.聽

With your help and support, Designability can continue their life-changing work and make a lasting difference to the lives of many more disabled people.

Bella, 3, has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and聽is unable to move around without being carried by her mum or dad. She was having to sit and look on while her family and friends took part in things that she could only watch.聽

Bella鈥檚 physiotherapist suggested a Wizzybug powered wheelchair to the family and they applied straight away.聽

Mum Lizzy said:聽鈥淪eeing how well she has taken to controlling her own movements using her Wizzybug makes me so proud. It鈥檚 a joy to witness her choosing where she wants to go, chasing her friends around in the garden and going to nursery in it.

When we were told Bella had cerebral palsy we had no idea what life might be like, or what would happen. Wizzybug and Designability has given us hope and now we feel like there are things out there to help Bella to do all that she chooses to do.鈥�

Kirsty is mum to 3-year-old Chester and a manual wheelchair user. Both Kirsty and her son have osteogenesis imperfecta (more commonly known as brittle bone disease) which means they have to be very careful when out and about to avoid injury.聽

Kirsty鈥檚 and her family took part in user testing for Designability鈥檚 accessible pushchair for wheelchair users, working closely with their team of designers. Kirsty and partner Paul both acknowledged what a difference the pushchair would have made to them had it been available when Chester was born.

She said: 鈥淚t feels absolutely amazing using the pushchair! I really wish it was on the market already. I can鈥檛 go anywhere on my own with my child - I always have to have a person with me. It will give future parents real independence and freedom; it鈥檚 awesome.鈥�

Identical twin brothers, Raffy and Siddy, aged 2, were diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy type 1, a day after their first birthday.

SMA1 affects every muscle in the body, meaning the boys are unable to crawl, stand or walk though cognitively, this lively duo is not affected.

Since receiving their Wizzybugs earlier this year, the cheeky pair have been getting up to plenty of mischief together and have been enjoying being able to play freely with their older sister, Marnie, in the garden and out and about.聽

Mum Jenna, said: 鈥淲ords are not enough to describe what these powered wheelchairs mean to Raffy and Siddy. They can be independent and choose where they want to go and not rely on someone carrying them around. They can explore and be a 2-year-old and learn from their environment. Thank you to Designability for giving my boys the freedom to be inquisitive toddlers.鈥�