People’s Choice Award 2025 Silver £2.5-£5million
Countless disabled children under 5 don't have access to NHS powered wheelchairs and, as a result, are reliant on being carried or pushed in a buggy if they are unable to move independently. Yet it is widely known how crucial movement is to a child's development.
Non-disabled infants typically start crawling around the age of 7 to 10 months. By the time they’re toddlers, they are covering distances equivalent to 46 football fields in just six hours. This independent exploration has many benefits, not just for their physical development but also for their relationships with parents, siblings, friends, and speech and language. Delays in getting access to movement can greatly impact a child’s life.
Six year old Bobby has Spinal Muscular Atrophy. He is unable to walk but got a Wizzybug powered wheelchair at the age of two. Designed and produced by disability charity Designability, it is the only powered wheelchair available free of charge for children aged from 14 months upwards who are experiencing difficulties in their ability to walk. As the film shows, the Wizzybug enabled Bobby to attend his local mainstream school and gave him opportunities to do everyday activities that any other child his age would experience.
Four years on, and Bobby is thriving. He is doing well at school, has earned himself the title of ‘chatterbox’, and is the youngest player on the local powerchair football team. He’s still too young to play any league matches but already considers himself a striker and hopes to play for Northern Ireland one day.
“We credit Wizzybug massively,” his parents said. “Without it, I don’t know where Bobby would be – physically, socially or emotionally.”
To date, over 1500 children have benefited from the Wizzybug loan scheme, which is available free of charge to families across the UK. The scheme is fully funded by donations, which enables the charity to give Wizzybugs to young children to use until they outgrow it.
Designability strives to ensure that young disabled children are not left behind in movement and access to play through its Wizzybug Loan Scheme. The charity hopes that even more young disabled children can experience Wizzybugs, which offer fun, independence, and freedom of movement, often for the first time in their lives.
For more information visit: https://designability.org.uk/assistive-solutions/wizzybug/
Designability is a national charity that enables disabled people to live with greater independence. Our expertise in person-centred design helps us create products and services with and for disabled people to improve and enrich their lives. Borne out of a partnership between the Royal United Hospital and the University of Bath in the 1960s, the charity is best known for its pioneering Wizzybug Loan Scheme which provides free, fun, powered wheelchairs called Wizzybugs to very young disabled children across the UK. To date, they have been loaned to over 1,500 children, typically aged from 14 months upwards.
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