Disabled Motoring UK - Disabled Motoring UK is the charity for disabled drivers, passengers & Blue Badge holders.

It’s been two years since Tory MP David Amess tabled a written parliamentary question on the subject and yet the debate continues to rage over whether mobility scooter owners should be forced to take out insurance. Continue reading »

Jan McDonald and Kitty Walker of the Forth & Tay Disabled Ramblers report on a week-long rambling trip in Aviemore.

Disappointed at the cancellation of the annual Aviemore Walking Festival a group of intrepid disabled ramblers from Fife decided to go it alone and travelled to Aviemore to sample the excellent network of accessible trails in the area. The eleven holidaymakers, who are all members of Forth & Tay Disabled Ramblers, spent a week in the area staying in a mixture of accessible self-catering and B & B accommodation. Seven of the ramblers use mobility scooters or powered wheelchairs to access the outdoors, whilst the other 4 are volunteers and carers. Thanks to the excellent scooter hire scheme run by the Badenoch and Strathspey Community Transport Company several of the rambles on this holiday were made possible.
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UPDATE: For information on the memorial tribute to O A Denly, please click here.

It is with great sadness that Mobilise has to announce the death of our founder and president, Oswald Arthur Denly, known to many of us as “Denny”. He died at the age of 86.

O A Denly was born in 1924 in London, and entered the Royal Navy in 1942. He contracted polio whilst in Ceylon and returned to the UK in 1945. Paralysed from the waist down, he was invalided out of the navy and became a hospital administrator. The expectation of many might have been that Denny’s adventuring days were firmly behind him, but the handsome 22-year old thought differently. He had planned to spend his first Foreign Service leave in Switzerland and saw no reason to change his plans despite his disability. In June 1947 he set off to conquer the Alps in his 147cc petrol-driven Argson tricycle, or “Invalid Carriage”. His was to take him 1,500 miles over the Alps, including a climb of almost 8,000 feet through steep mountain passes. Continue reading »

Mobilise member Jenny Banbury loved her manual Renault Clio but there was no way she could fit a hoist and a scooter inside such a small car, and she needed an automatic for the hand controls she required.  Her only option was to get something bigger and after much soul searching she settled on the Vauxhall Zafira 1.9 CDTI.

I had been having driving lessons with Rob Lukehurst (in his BSM Corsa with hand controls), and my Disability Living Allowance award letter had come through.  The time had come to look for a car.  I went to see Andrew Vernon, the Motability Specialist at Hartwell Oxford Vauxhall, for advice on what car he thought might be suitable.  I’d been to many dealers and didn’t like the look or space the other cars offered.  I was also fixated on having a small car.

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Jackie Weeden tells us about the scooter formation team that is putting the fun into fundraising!

The Red Wheelies Mobility Formation Team like many things came about by accident.   All the team members have  multiple sclerosis and ride mobility scooters and  wanted to race their scooters, after all even lawn-mowers are raced so why not scooters? After some initial trials and tribulations to be allowed to race they found a suitable venue.  It was while waiting to race that a couple of the girls started weaving in-and-out of each other and eureka the Red Wheelies were born.  A dressage choreographer designed the original  routine, a uniform was agreed on and as the scooters being used were all red the name Red Wheelies seemed just right. The Red Wheelies were born and took part in fun days raising money for local MS charities. Continue reading »

Eva McCracken tells Mobilise the inspiration behind her book, Walking on Wheels, a guide for wheelchair and electric scooter users who wish to access and enjoy the Scottish countryside.

When people ask me why did I write Walking on Wheels, I have a stock answer.  “Because it was needed”, I say.  There was a complete dearth of information on barrier free countryside paths accessible to those of us requiring wheels for our mobility. That, of course, is only part of the story but the more I think about “why” the more confused I get.

Was it in my nature?  Was it my upbringing?  Would it have happened had I lived a century ago? Perhaps I was just part of our early 21st century, “go-for-it” attitude and saw an opportunity?

What I know for sure was that Walking on Wheels was part of my journey through life living with MS. It would never have happened had I not become an ‘MSer’, dependent on an assortment of wheelchairs and scooters for the past 10 years.  I feel very fortunate in my nature and my nurture.  I’m an optimist by nature and a problem solver by education. Continue reading »

The countryside around Oban includes a stunning vista of sea, shore and mountains. There is a diverse range of wildlife and habitat, landscape dotted with archeological finds dating back to prehistoric times, and remote areas that have retained their tranquillity since the last ice age. Now this wonderful landscape is opening up and becoming more accessible to those with limited mobility. Mobilise member Mark Carter takes on a tour of Scotland’s West Coast and shares some of his stunning photographs of the area.

Oban makes a great base for touring this beautiful part of Scotland and has accessible accommodation to suit all budgets, from bed and breakfasts to country house hotel. At Oban Shopmobility, situated between the Train Station and the Ferry Pier, you’ll find a large range of electric scooters and wheelchairs for use.  For a small fee they will even drop off an electric scooter or wheelchair at your hotel, ready for your arrival. Continue reading »

Mobilise member John Jewitt tests out the new Jenny-Wiz powerchair from Fieldmaster

I had been aware for a while that my faithful Euroflex electric wheelchair was coming to the end of its life. It needed several expensive repairs and given the age of the chair itself I began to draw up a shortlist of suitable replacements.

I wanted a chair primarily for indoor use, but one that could cope with some limited outdoor duty. I needed an electrically elevating seat and I wanted this to be mounted on a proper frame as in the past I have found single-post models prone to developing squeaks and groans (which engender equally noisy complaints from my better half!) Very importantly, it had to be compact; unfortunately these last two requirements ruled out most of the chairs currently on the market.

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