A charity that works with disabled children will be working against the clock this Giving Tuesday to raise funds and build a powered wheelchair in just one day.

Volunteers at Bath-based charity Designability will be taking on quite the challenge on December 3 and are asking for support to help children in need.  

The team design something called a Wizzybug, a powered wheelchair for children aged five and under, which usually takes 12 hours and costs £4,850 to build.

Fiona Cromwell, Marketing and Communications Officer at Designability, told us this will help three more children to gain independence and freedom, as the charity operates on a loan scheme  – meaning that the Wizzybug will be passed on to other children when it is no longer needed.

She said: “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but a Wizzybug could be.

“We ultimately hope that this campaign will raise greater awareness for the need for powered mobility for children under 5 across the UK.

“We were the first UK charity to set-up a loan scheme for powered wheelchairs for this age group and have helped nearly 750 children and their families to access early years powered mobility with our Wizzybugs. We would love for this day and campaign to celebrate that.”

“We thought Giving Tuesday would be a fantastic opportunity to get involved in a nationwide / international campaign in order to be part of something bigger and hopefully elevate our mission.”

Fiona Cromwell, Marketing and Communications Officer at Designability

Go Red for Wizzybug

Fiona also told us the charity will be basing their campaign around the colour red, on theme with the colour of Wizzybugs.

They will be asking local businesses, community groups and individual givers to Go Red, Bake Red and/or Wear Red and will invite them to share the results on social media.

She added: “We thought Giving Tuesday would be a fantastic opportunity to get involved in a nationwide / international campaign in order to be part of something bigger and hopefully elevate our mission.

“Designability is a relatively small, lesser-known, national charity so this kind of initiative will really help us to amplify what we are trying to achieve.

“It also happens to be the International Day of People with Disabilities (a UN campaign) which gave us the extra incentive to focus on our Wizzybug powered wheelchairs for young children with disabilities.”

Show your support

To support the campaign, visit: https://designability.org.uk/become-a-fundraiser/upcoming-events/red-for-wizzybug/

If you are a business or a community group, get in touch on fundraising@designability.org.uk.