The Bath-based disability charity Designability is set to give away twenty accessible pushchairs following successful trials and multiple award wins.
Rebecca Hemingfield Budge with her accessible pushchair | Photo © Designability
With no accessible pushchair products currently available on the global market, there is no safe way for disabled parents or carers in manual wheelchairs to get out independently with their baby or young child.
Parents either resort to having their child sit on their lap, which is often unsafe and uncomfortable, or are left isolated at home or dependent on a non-disabled partner or carer. This can lead to feeling like a ‘lesser parent’ and ‘disempowered’.
Fiona Dick, one of the twenty accessible pushchair participants, said: “When you see other mums out on their own, it’s heartbreaking.
“I’d like to be able to go out for a coffee or to the shops or the park, but you can’t as you can’t push a pushchair whilst pushing a wheelchair.”
The groundbreaking accessible pushchair can be used by a manual wheelchair-using parent or carer, and has been designed with mass manufacture in mind.
The innovative design replaces the traditional rear wheels/footbrake assembly, turning any conventional pushchair into an accessible pushchair.
Designability has launched a six-month trial of twenty accessible pushchairs to a range of disabled parents and carers across the UK.
Their feedback will provide valuable insight into how the pushchairs are used and their impact on the families. The pushchairs are being gifted to the participants so they can keep them once the trial is complete.
Another of the twenty recipients, Paul Sloan, shared his thoughts on the positive impact the accessible pushchair will have on his life.
He said: “It’s more than just a pushchair. Having a piece of hardware that takes away one worry means that so many other things will become easier because I can just get up and go.”
Paul also hopes that being seen in an accessible pushchair will initiate new conversations around accessible products for disabled parents.
“Rather than being the ‘inspirational dad who’s taking care of his kids’ (as that’s what I should be doing, quite frankly), the focus can be ‘here’s this amazing contraption that they’ve never seen before and it’s great!’”
The charity worked in partnership with leading UK pushchair manufacturer Mamas & Papas to ensure the pushchair complies with British Safety Standards.
Each of the twenty selected families will receive a Mamas & Papas pushchair adapted into an accessible pushchair, completely free of charge.
The accessible pushchairs have been designed and made in the charity’s workshop located in central Bath.
Handover appointments with the families are being held at Designability’s offices at the Royal United Hospital and sent by courier delivery.
Known for co-designing innovative products with and for disabled people that reduce everyday barriers, Designability launched their revolutionary accessible pushchair for wheelchair users in 2023.
It has won multiple international awards, including Best Design for Humanity in the European Product Design Awards and the prestigious 2024 GOOD DESIGN Award for transportation.
This six-month trial is a key stage in understanding how the accessible pushchairs are being used and the impact they have on disabled parents and carers, and their families.
Designability’s Director of Design & Innovation, Matt Ford, explained the inspiration behind the pushchair design: “As a national disability charity, we have been aware of the need for this product for many years.
“It is our most requested product, and we estimate that there are around 20,000 disabled parents in the UK alone who could benefit.”
“We’re so excited for more manual wheelchair users to use the accessible pushchair and to show everybody what it can do!
“Our goal is to get a mainstream nursery product out into the world that changes the lives of the disabled parents and carers, and their families too.”
