Remember the Geoff Forgie Memorial Disability Challenge of 2012, teams carrying someone who uses a wheelchair or would find it difficult to access the Long Mynd due to a disability or long term condition.
Our pioneers had a wonderful time, putting their trust in teams to carry them, accessing a beautiful area of Shropshire-feeling the breeze on their face- As one person said “it was so peaceful to be up there, sun shining, I loved every minute, what an experience”
Did you experience the blistered hands a result of being a carrier? One of our pioneers-Alan saw the issues with the borrowed frames & gave himself a challenge to design a bespoke wheelchair frame that can be fitted to different types of wheelchairs & a lighter but still robust frame. Having designed it & a long search to get the design drawings signed off by qualified drawings engineers the next search was on to find a company willing to make the frame. It took months of appeals on radio, local press, social media and other sources to find a company who was willing to help.
Local firm Price Fallows of Shrewsbury who do engineering work around agricultural products (trailers, combines etc) as well as work relating to barges were only too willing to help Alan & us. SDN Management Committee agreed to commission one frame.
Yesterday a big milestone was reached when the frame which has been put through rigorous strength tests by Price Fallows, was handed over to SDN. Radio Shropshire were so helpful in reporting live at the handover.
So another step taken, what happens next? SDN will be putting it through more tests & then we will be looking for companies to sponsor our frame at a cost of £400 each. We hope to hold our next challenge is 2016 & already we have signed up our first team as Price Fallows have offered to put a team in.