A local charity with a global impact

Based in Bedminster, Motivation empowers disabled people in developing countries and is at the forefront of cutting-edge wheelchair technology.

The charity, founded by David Constantine, launched in 1991 and provides wheelchairs, support and training for thousands of disabled people in developing countries, where mobility is often the key to survival.

“It was 1989 and I was studying design at the Royal College of Art,” says David, as he explains the charity’s origins. “We were given a project to take part in a competition to design a wheelchair for developing countries.”

A wheelchair user himself, David teamed up with fellow student Simon Gue to design a mobility aid suitable for use over rough, rural terrain. Their prototype won first prize in the college competition.

Along with another friend, Richard Frost, Simon and David used their prize money to make a trip to Bangladesh, where they visited the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed. From there, the friends visited Cambodia and Poland.

Motivation often finds that disabled people are often excluded from their communities, so the charity provides parent and carer training and support wheelchair using children. They currently runs nine projects in seven countries, but continuing the programmes depends entirely on funding.

One way the charity is working to make sure this happens is through Motivation InnovATe, a 3D printing project inspired by the statistic that two billion people expected to need assistive technology by 2050.

“We want to strengthen overseas links and work with local NGOs,” explains Amanda Wilkinson, the chief executive. “We might be a small charity, but we’ve got a massive influence. We need better collaboration across the world when it comes to assistive technology.”

The charity work with Access Sport to directly combat exclusion faced by disabled and vulnerable children in the UK, providing chairs that can be used by clubs, as well as supporting disabled sportspeople in developing countries.

It’s a true feat that such a small charity, based in humble abodes in south Bristol, can have such a positive and wide-reaching global impact. Find out more at www.motivation.org.uk

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