The plan is that from the 11th of April, I will be spending a week in a wheelchair to raise money for Scope charity. Scope supports people with physical and mental disabilities to have a greater quality of life. Their ultimate aim is " to make this country a place where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else."  

Being in a wheelchair for a week will raise money to support scope but also raise awareness for the great work they are doing. I recently was lucky enough to be invited down to my local Scope charity and meet the people involved in the day to day running of this fantastic charity. However, Scope does need help to not only keep the charity running, but to help it develop and be accessible to more and more people. 

Additionally, being in a wheelchair is going to be a personal challenge. The idea came about whilst I was travelling in the Austrian Alps last summer. My brother and I decided to go biking which unfortunately resulted in me flying off the front of the bike with outstretched arms. Breaking both my arms at the elbow and doing substantial damage to my left wrist. This event left me immobilised for weeks and limited my movements for a long time afterwards. It was from this experience I gained a valuable insight into the benefits of depriving yourself from day to day luxuries. Back in summer, even brushing my teeth or turning on a tap became impossible!

The rules of the challenge are as follows: 

1. I'm not allowed to use my legs at all times with the following exception:

2. I live up 4 flights of stairs so I am allowed to crawl up or go up on my knees (when in my room I can still only crawl or move around the room in my (chair/wheelchair)

I also have a few events planned to really get a feel and greater understanding of what it is like to be wheelchair bound. These include a disability climbing session with a Team GB disability climber at the High Sports Climbing Centre (Life centre). I also intend to meet with some university students and find out how they find university life. Hopefully, also I will be able to play some wheelchair basketball or any other sporting activities. All of this is going to be filmed on a Go Pro camera and made into a short clip afterwards. 

So give generously and don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions! 

Finally I would just like to thank the occupational health team at Derriford for letting me borrow the chair and making this challenge possible.