Inspiring Stories

Shane Bratby

Disabled Entrepreneurs: Shane Bratby

My name is Shane Bratby the founder of MobilityBuy.com and Disabled Entrepreneurs.

When I was 10-years-old, I became very clumsy and un-steady on my feet, after convincing my parents it’s hard for me to walk in a straight line, I was taken to see a doctor who after three years of tests gave me a diagnosis. The doctor said to me I have Friedreich’s Ataxia, which is a rare neurological condition which gets worse over time and it has been said that I will die around 25-years-old.

From that day I’ve lived in fear for my life living every day like it was my last, as time went on I gradually stopped walking. My wife had a still born baby at eight months pregnant, it dawned on me to fulfil my life.

Now I live in Doncaster with my wife Amanda and my three children Chloe, Sian and Chanelle who was born prematurely and because of that she got brain damage and Cerebral Palsy. She is now also in a wheelchair.

Me and my partner have been through some up and downs in my time. I feel it is my destiny to help people with all types of mobility issues, offering the very best in our products and services.

My first service was a charity to help disabled people get there grocery shopping, I wanted to deal in Mobility Aids due to seeing so many able-bodied people working in the disabled market.

Statistically, disabled people don’t hold as many high qualifications as an able-bodied person and the reason for this is down to disabled education across the United Kingdom.

When I was 16-years-old my feelings told me that I could not have the career that I had dreamed about due to having no qualifications because of my special school and the disabled education system. We did not study GCSEs, and those really mean something in this world.

This was not fair. It is hard enough being a wheelchair user getting accepted for a job nevermind having no qualifications as well. So, I turned that into what I enjoyed knowing qualifications would not be needed and that the sky would be my limit. Now, I have Mobility Buy and this project.

Thank you for visiting our site and I do hope you feel inspired, If you have any ideas on how we can improve please let us know.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Best wishes and thank you,

Shane

Dom Smith

Disabled Entrepreneurs: Dom Smith

I was born with Cerebral Palsy and my parents were told that I would not be able to walk at all from age 12. Now, at 25-years-old, thanks to the love and support of those around me, I walk with the aid of two sticks and regularly travel around the UK promoting and providing content for my business, Soundsphere magazine. This is an online and print publication that looks at rock music and culture specific to the North of England. I also work as a copywriter and journalist in the city of York.

My aim is to support and offer advice (along with my colleague and the project’s founder Shane) to people with a range of disabilities so that I can help them to achieve their goals and “live their dream” just like I have been lucky enough to do.

Thanks and best wishes,

Dom

Clare Edwards

Disabled Entrepreneurs: Clare Edwards

Clare Edwards of Loughborough started her business Equip-able Ltd in January 2009, making and selling the award winning Trabasack lap tray travel bag. Here she tells us a bit about her business and her inspiring journey.

A wheelchair user since a car accident in her teens, ( tetraplegic , spinal injury C5/6) is the founder of Trabasack Products. Clare’s aim is to create innovative products that are inclusive and useful to everyone whatever their age or ability. Her first design is the multi-award winning Trabasack, a laptray and travel bag.

My inspiration was created from a mothers’ desire to help her son. Joe has Dravet syndrome which is a catastrophic and devastating form of epilepsy. This life limiting condition means that Joe lost many skills that he learnt as a baby and is now unable to walk or communicate and is visually impaired. When he was 4yrs old we were provided with a heavy and ugly plastic tray to put on the front of his buggy. This was very difficult to get on and off, formed a social barrier and was dangerous during his frequent seizures. I realised that we had to make the most of his desire to relearn and our reluctance to carry or attach his tray was not helping him explore and play. I decided that I could make up a soft play tray on my sewing machine.

After watching too many ‘Dragons Den’s, I decided to apply for a Catalyst Grant, for which I was successful and awarded £2000. This enabled me to do some market research with a local nursery and decide on a prototype design. This design evolved into the Trabasack!

‘After spending months cutting up Jacobs Cracker boxes and sewing bag shapes on my Bernina sewing machine, I decided to take my homespun creation to a local factory. It was a nerve racking moment but they took me very seriously. They could see the potential in the idea and the factory made our first small batch production run.’

Joe’s Portage Teacher and Nursery school were very impressed with the Trabasack and the early prototypes and we gave them a few to trial some to Joe’s Nursery and some other parents to try out. When another local special needs school who had seen them asked to buy some from us we were thrilled and knew we had something that was unavailable elsewhere and but was really in demand We asked Unltd, the charity for Social Entrepreneurs if they would fund the launch of Trabasack at Naidex the UK’s largest healthcare trade show. They believed in the project and gave me £4000 to fund the launch.

I decided to adapt the design to give four variants which would suit different needs. The idea was to produce a product that would follow “design for all” principles, that would be a mainstream product but that would be easily used by people of all abilities. I am a keen traveller and handbag enthusiast(!), and I knew there was a gap in the market for a stylish portable lap tray. Being a wheelchair user I often find that I cannot get my legs under a table at a cafe, pub or restaurant. Bending over is uncomfortable and the prospect of dropping or spilling a drink inhibited me from eating and drinking in public on occasion. I began to use a Trabasack every day and knew that many other people would find it useful.

My second son Victor who is a healthy and active little boy loves using his Trabasack in his buggy, car seat and as a booster seat in cafes when out and about.

“My biggest challenge has been to ensure that the volume, consistency and quality of work needed to create a successful business is achievable despite living with a disability. I have a strong internal drive and desire to be successful, I am goal focussed and strict on time management.

I have had to learn about marketing, sales, website design, manufacturing and logistics in a short space of time. Applying these new skills, whilst maintaining a professional standard throughout, is, at times, very tough.

We also have a child with severe epilepsy (Dravet Syndrome) who requires specialist care. it was my desire to help my disabled son access toys and switches that helped lead to the design of Trabasack.

I have focussed on my strengths such as design and creative work. Living with a disability means that you are always striving to adapt your environment to make life easier. It means you become a natural designer and inventor through your own needs.

My disability has been an advantage in that I have been able to create a “Design for all” product before knowing what that meant! That is, a product that has been ergonomically created to be easy to use by people with a range of abilities, young, old, disabled and non-disabled.

I have also been supported by the ‘disabled’ community online who have championed our product and become the ‘early adopters’ of Trabasack. Our peers have helped us raise awareness by writing about Trabasack on blogs, forums, through web links and by disseminating press releases to help us and because they know that Trabasacks are so incredibly useful.

Clare has been mentored and taught by some leading professionals to help grow her business. She was became an UnLtd Level 2 Award Winner in Autumn 2009. UnLtd, the charity for social entrepreneurs has provided practical help and business development support enabling Clare to access experienced mentors for advice and guidance.

Through support from UnLtd, she recently attended the MADE festival for Entrepreneurs in Sheffield and met Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, the Black Farmer. She also attended ex-Dragons Den investor, Doug Richard’s School 4 Start Ups 48hr Boot Camp receiving expert and pithy advice from the Californian serial entrepreneur and his team of specialists. http://www.schoolforstartups.co.uk/

Clare has recently been shortlisted for the Stelios Award for Disabled Entrepreneur of the UK 2010 and waits to hear from the judges whether she will go on to meet Stelios at a special judging lunch in London in October. In the meantime, she is continues grow her business and to develop new products. Prototypes of two new designs have been made and will be launched next year.

If you work hard and believe in yourself, people will take you seriously. Talk to people and connect on the web, there is a community of people with disabilities out there who will help and support you.

Clare

Vanessa Heywood

Disabled Entrepreneurs: Vanessa Heywood

Stelios Haji-Ioannou and the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation have announced the winner of the Stelios Award for Disabled Entrepreneurs in the UK 2010, the prestigious, annual award run in partnership with the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability. The award, now in its fourth year, recognises the achievements and unique challenges faced by entrepreneurs with disability.

Vanessa Heywood, a 41-year-old Radlett resident, was presented with a cheque for £50,000 at the Growing Business Awards in London on Thursday night (25 November) for her company – Tiny Mites Music – which offers live and recorded interactive music sessions aimed at young children.

Vanessa was selected from an impressive range of applicants for her business acumen, performance, originality and entrepreneurial passion. Beyond the £50,000, she and her company will also benefit from specialist support courtesy of the Stelios Scholar Reach-out Programme.

When Vanessa was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1995, she had to give up her career as a professional actress, singer and dancer. Never one to quit in the face of adversity, the single mother-of-two, who once graced the stages of London’s West End decided to set up a business that took advantage of her musical talent, while allowing her to manage the symptoms of her disability.

Today, the business has grown and Vanessa has contracts with a number of large holiday parks, nursery chains and schools, and has brought out a Tiny Mites CD. Vanessa also provides Tiny Mites Birthday parties for under 5′s and is now working on preparing her nationwide franchise operation. Vanessa is very excited about premiering her interactive musical “Tiny Mites at the Seaside” at the Radlett Centre Theatre in August 2011.

Commenting on her achievement, Vanessa said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have won this Award, and would like to thank Sir Stelios, the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation and Leonard Cheshire Disability for making this possible. This is going to make such a difference to my business and my life.

“Music is a passion for me; it is the family business. I used to perform in musicals and plays as diverse as West Side Story, Twelfth Night and Elvis. My father, a professional trombonist who toured with Frank Sinatra, taught me never to give up and to strive for perfection.

“The idea of writing new, inspiring, interactive music for young children came to me in 2004. I wanted to connect with really young children with new, fun material that could cultivate a life -long love of music.”

Looking after her two young sons by day and working by night, Vanessa wrote in her lounge, often sleeping on the sofa when she was unable to make it up the stairs. Over an eight month period, Vanessa wrote 36 songs and created a group of characters, the Tiny Mites, which sprung from stories she told her children.

Sir Stelios said: “I would like to congratulate Vanessa on running a successful business and displaying the drive, creativity and determination to reach the top and really fly. The £50,000 prize will ensure Tiny Mites Music has an important boost for growth. Today, she joins our community of entrepreneurs who are making a difference.

Vanessa

Guy Harris

Disabled Entrepreneurs: Guy Harris

Hi. My name is Guy Harris and I started www.DisabledGear.com in 2009. It is a great business that is evolving. I started it because I felt that there was no decent alternative to the expense of always buying new. I wanted to create a Free-Ads website allowing people to buy & sell second hand disability equipment easily. I knew it had to be a free service and one that was clear and easy to use, with good functionality – i.e. searching for items by price, distance, or keyword – that kind of thing.

Planning was everything and from concept to launch was actually a long period, a year. The old saying “there’s no second chance for a first impression” is really true.

Starting your own business is hard work. Sometimes it seems that no matter what your business will do for others, it’s difficult to persuade them to take a few minutes to look at what you’ve got to show them. But what I know is that every contact with a customer is a golden opportunity to give them a reason to come back and tell all their friends. Customer service really counts. For me, this is easy because I really believe in what I am doing.

I had an RTA in 2003, as a result of which I am paralysed at L1. Predictably, a whole world that I knew nothing about has opened up in front of me, and the first piece of advice I would give to anyone setting out is: Do what you know. It shines through in your business and in your product. And flexibility is also crucial. I started selling new products because I wanted to pay for the free service I was offering. By choosing solutions to my problems, I have hit on some really popular products.

If it weren’t for my disability I wouldn’t have this business. My disability is my strength. I understand my product and I understand my customers. For example, I sell wheelchair jeans. When I found this manufacturer and saw the quality of the product, I was thrilled: finally I found the answer to a six year riddle. And I see the same reaction in my customers – except some of them have waited even longer!

To others thinking of starting a business I would always say: Go for it! It won’t be the easiest thing you’ve done. And there will be failures and lessons learned along the way. That’s all part of it. It’s not the falling down but the staying down that marks failure. If you’re the type to get up and dust yourself down and start again, it’ll add extra dimensions to your life, and provide immense satisfaction.

What is interesting is who supports you along the way and who won’t help at all. It’s never how you think it will be. Some organisations or people have really disappointed me. And others just make me smile, as they’re such a pleasure to deal with. Integrity and perseverance are everything. I have started small, because it was on limited funds and I wanted to get things right. And being small means I have to do everything! This means I learn all the different jobs, so that if I grow to employing people, I’ll never be asking anyone to do anything I haven’t done – except get stuff off a high shelf!

Me? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Guy

Natasha Cotterell

Disabled Entrepreneurs: Natasha Cotterell

I went deaf suddenly at the age of 12, I was not given much opportunity to wallow in self pity as I was born and raised by a strong, independent disabled woman who being a wheelchair user was heavily involved in the disability movement and the development of grass root disability led organisations.

A year later I went on to have a cochlear implant and was later nominated by my teacher at my mainstream school for The Child of Achievement award in 1998 for overcoming illness/disability.

After leaving school, I went straight into work, After working in various sectors Private, Public and third sector. I decided after the birth of my first daughter in 2004 that I wanted more out of life and went on to complete a HNC and HND in Business & management which I studied Part time for 3 years whilst maintaining full time employment in Disability user led organisations.

I then went on to work for another Disability organisation part time and topped up my HND with a degree whilst continuing to work p/t. I left university with a 2:1 BSc (hons) in Management and decided that now was the time to pursue something that I had dreamt about pursuing for the last 5 years…
Today at the age of 27 I have finally built up the confidence, courage and determination to try and make a positive difference to the lives of Personal Assistant Employers and Personal Assistants.

In theory, I am doing everything; a business should not do, I’ve been told its better to wait until the economy gets better. However in practice our fight for equality, access, and training continues.

I chose a SE because I wanted to prove that what we do is effective, that it is needed and that it is required. I wanted to prove that being disabled will not stop me from being as business minded as the next individual and I want to prove that we can be sustainable and run like any other. I want to be innovative in our approach, I want to adapt and provide a person led service without the barriers and restrictions and most of all I want to re-invest any money the company make back into the business to develop and extend the services.

I am hoping we will be successful in our recent proposal to the lottery, if successful we will use these funds to bring people together, develop the website further, attain premises and provide training, mediating, networking facilities so check out www.cpadirectcic.com

Natasha

Richard Shakespeare

Disabled Entrepreneurs: Richard Shakespeare

In one instance Mr Shakespeare, who suffers from cerebral palsy, even scored 98 per cent on an aptitude test but was still overlooked for an administrative position in the public sector.

But now, after 12 months of rejection, he has ended his job search to become a consultant advising businesses on disability issues.

He said: ‘I applied for absolutely everything that I could physically do and didn’t know how to get out of the unemployment trap.

‘After nearly a year without a job offer, I was starting to get depressed and the number of suitable jobs seemed to be going down.’

Mr Shakespeare was also at a disadvantage as he could not accept a job paying the minimum wage – because he would have lost the redundancy insurance that was paying his mortgage.

So after becoming fed up of his 12-month quest for work, he was inspired to bite the bullet and set up his own business.

He added: ‘Interviewers would feel uncomfortable and nervous, unsure as to how to treat someone who’s disabled.

‘It struck me that there must be hundreds of businesses that had no experience of dealing with disabled people and would benefit from speaking to someone with a real-life perspective on the matter.’

Mr Shakespeare attended a number of networking events to bounce his idea off of local business leaders and decided it could work, so he set up his modest office in Derby.

He said: ‘Now that I’m self-employed, the pressure is really on me to make ends meet but I’m determined to make it work and I’m confident that I can.’

And business has been booming so far – with clients already queueing up, one of his first was a local Novotel hotel.

In October he visited as a mystery guest and later reported back to the manager and briefed employees on how to improve service.

General manager of the hotel, Mike Colman said: ‘We do a lot of disability awareness training with our staff but I wanted a fresh look at how we treat disabled guests.

‘What Richard did was to bring disabled issues to life, which was extremely valuable.

‘He’s a personable guy and very knowledgeable – he really struck a chord with my team.

‘As a result of his work, we have made tweaks to how we treat disabled guests. I meet regularly with other hoteliers in Derby and I will certainly recommend that they get in touch with Richard.’

Mr Shakespeare has also worked with Nottingham-based health care practitioner Wendy Wells.

She said: ‘Richard’s knowledge and experience have been really useful to me while I have been setting up my podiatry practice.

‘He has advised me on current legislation and has helped me with any queries that I’ve had.’

Richard

Mark Esho

Disabled Entrepreneurs: Mark Esho

When Mark Esho set up his internet company 10 years ago, it was one of only four of its kind in the UK.

But setting up the business was a big challenge. He claims the fact he was black and had a disability – he is unable to walk long distances because of childhood polio – made getting the venture off the ground much harder.

“I got zero support,” he said. “It was a new technology and people didn’t understand what I was trying to do.

“I started my business off on a credit card and I had to work for three months without pay while I built up my portfolio. It was pretty hard.

“If you are black and disabled you have two things going against you. What people tend to do is base their opinions on what they see. Even I do it.

“That’s why I’ve always been driven to prove myself.”

A decade on, and his company, Easy Internet Services, in Westleigh Road, Leicester, employs 17 people and boasts 50,000 customers.

“When we started up in 2000 there were only four of us in the UK doing search engine optimisation (SEO),” he said.

Esho’s taste for business came when he decided to do a MBA while drifting from job to job in London.

He came back to his home city in 1994 and enrolled at the University of Leicester. He then worked at city disabled charity Mosaic for a while before taking the plunge.

“The internet was a hobby for me,” he said. “I thought I’d go for it. It also gave me flexible hours.”

As a result of his polio Esho suffers from chronic fatigue. “I get it two or three times a month,” he said. “I get really, really tired. That’s why I’m better suited to running my own business.”

The business expanded quickly and before long had moved from his home in Thorpe Astley to premises in Ross Walk, Belgrave. It then moved to a larger office at the LCB depot in Rutland Street before ending up in Westleigh Road.

Eight of the company’s staff are in India and the Philippines because of lower labour costs and difficulty finding the right people in the UK.

“A really good server technician would cost you £30,000 a year,” he said. “A technician with similar skills in India would cost you a third of that. In the Philippines a junior optimiser will cost you a fifth of what it does in the UK.”

Esho said he had become frustrated after training staff only to see them move on.

The firm’s customers are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Of its 50,000 web-hosting customers, 25,000 of them are paying, while the company has around 200 SEO clients. The company previously worked with larger clients such as The Guardian newspaper and the Co-op.

“The problem was they accounted for 50 per cent of turnover and it caused all sorts of problems in terms of getting payments,” explained Esho. “So in 2004 we decided to concentrate on the SME market.”

The company has had a turnover around the £1 million mark over the past three years.

“We have increased profits by 10 to 15 per cent in the past three years despite the recession,” he said.

The company has lost around a quarter of its search engine optimisation work in the past two years as clients cut their marketing budgets. But it is seeing some of them return.

Esho helps other entrepreneurs as a panelist on Foxes’ Den, a Sunday evening version of BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den on BBC Radio Leicester.

He said that, despite a more crowded market and an uncertain economic future, there was still a lot of potential for growth.

However, the 48-year-old father-of-two is looking to take things easier.

“The market is starting to pick up again and hopefully we will be looking to increase our turnover,” he said. “But I’ve got to the stage where I’m not pushing as aggressively as I was before. I am going for steady growth. I think it’s important to have a work-life balance. I want to spend more time with my family.”

Mark

Have an inspiring story?

Rory Hoy

Disabled Entrepreneurs: Rory Hoy

Hi!

I’m 23 and I’m autistic. Life was never easy especially at school, I knew I was different and found it hard to make friends. I have to say, though, I’ve attended three brilliant schools who did everything they could to support me. I was in a special school until I was nine, as I was quite severely autistic but really started to progress on joining mainstream school.

When I was 14, I started taking my video camera to film various family gatherings and holidays. My very first film was my Uncle getting ready for my Cousin’s wedding – a long process, as it was full Scottish regalia! I reversed the film, added music, credits and I had produced my first short film. I found it easy to make and especially enjoyed the editing – something I still enjoy today. I made over 30 short films after that; the one I’m most proud of is ‘Autism & Me’ which has won many awards and is released worldwide on DVD through Jessica Kingsley Publishers (www.jkp.com) .

I get really heart-warming e-mails and messages from families all over the world who have been affected by autism and I go into schools and organisations where they show my film and do Q&A sessions and talk about my autism.

Then the music took over!

I started making music (electronic stuff using samples and also live instrumentation) when I was 18, influenced by DJs like Fatboy Slim and Freddy Fresh from USA. I’m lucky as my mum and dad are musicians, so music has always been a big part of our lives. I put some tracks on MySpace to see what the reaction would be and within two weeks I’d had amazing feedback, and the offer of a record contract with non-other than one of my heroes, Freddy Fresh, who runs Howlin’ Records in America. Now I’m on my fourth album, I’ve had vinyl EPs released through BigM Productions (Germany), various remixes and collaborations on various labels worldwide, including the legendary SKINT Records label, and lots of forthcoming releases in the pipeline. I’ve also since had e-mails from Fatboy Slim himself praising my work! Other people who have sent me messages of praise include Mr Scruff, DJ Cam, Ali Shaheed Muhamed from A Tribe Called Quest, Fake Blood/DJ Touche and many others. How cool is that?!

Here’s some of the other stuff “in a nutshell” I’ve been doing.

My music has been played regularly on BBC Radio Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show.

I have a monthly Radio Show on RAMP FM (Based in Berlin) called ‘Funktion Junction’. I also have a weekly show on ID Radio called ‘Sounds Like Big Beat’.

I have also produced some minimixes for Disneyland Paris, which are being played on the street and in the shops and café’s in the Disney Village.

I’ve featured many times on British and American TV including the NBC ‘Today’ Show in USA, ITV, BBC and Sky. I’ve also featured many times on UK Radio Stations and Worldwide Press and Magazines.

‘Autism & Me’ won a Royal Television Society nomination, UNICEF award, 6 National Awards, including one from Film Director Guy Ritchie and is widely used in schools and by professionals worldwide to promote understanding of autism.

One of my tracks ‘Right On Funk Jam’ was on the PRS Dance Podcast and I also featured in the PRS ‘M’ magazine.

I won an international remix competition for Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip (Sunday Best Records run by BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob Da Bank).

I’m Youth Patron of the London based charity Resources for Autism and was invited to a special reception at the House of Lords to mark their 10 year anniversary.

I am a Centenary Ambassador for the large charity ‘UK Youth’ 2010 and feature in many promotions including Film, TV, Radio, Press and Festivals. I continue to be an Ambassador for UK Youth.

www.roryhoy.com

http://soundcloud.com/rory-hoy

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rory-Hoy/107929322609241?v=wall

Robin Kettle

Robin Kettle

I am the founder and owner of Access All Areas one of the
UK’s premier access auditing companies that I created in 2003 after
receiving a college degree and the founder and owner of the U.K.’s
busiest and most viewed disability information resource Ableize I also created and run a mind
body and soul Internet directory and I work on a daily basis as a premier
editor of the world’s oldest disability directory called the Best of
the Web.

I am (cough) 52 years of age and a tetraplegic wheelchair user after a
motorcycle accident in 1976, married, with no children and I much prefer
the more predictable company of my pet Jack Russell’s.

I am a self-confessed workaholic, my access auditing takes me to all
areas of the UK and I have a client list from the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister, DTI, DWP and many of the U.K.’s largest businesses
such as Capital One, Metropolitan Housing, UBS Global Management etc. I
take great pleasure in the challengers that our businesses of today face
with meeting the needs of people with disabilities through the compliance
of what was previously called the Disability Discrimination Act DDA now
The Equality Act 2010. I take great pride in my work in finding the right
solution at the right cost so that businesses and services can meet the
needs of the disabled through access to their buildings and services
rather than shy away from making what can often be expensive and often
unneeded alterations.

Ableize directory, blog and forum was created by me in 2006 after the
frustration of searching the Internet and finding extremely poor results.
It is now the UK’s and Ireland’s largest and most comprehensive
disability, health and mobility resource and a very respected and trusted
site and the only site chosen to be listed by the oldest Internet site
the WWW Virtual Library started by the creator of HTML himself Tim
Berners-Lee back in 1991. Ableize takes up a great deal of my time as I
continue to build and improve on its contents. I have also studied search
engine optimisation and continue to keep my hand in to meet the
never-ending changes that search engines throw at us to ensure that
ableize remains high in the search engines.

Living and travelling in a wheelchair is and continues to be a struggle
and gets that bit tougher as the years tick by but rather than slow down
I seem to be taking on greater challenges to prove to myself and most
probably the world that there is always the opportunity to better
yourself and make a difference to the world if you push yourself to the
limit and achieve the most you can offer.

Kind Regards

Robin

Ruth Cheesley

Ruth Cheesley

I am the owner and Director of Virya Technologies, with the responsibility for leading the website design team.

One of my roles is to be primarily involved with the day to day project management for our website projects, and liaising with our clients from across the world.

I started to experience the negative effect of the form of sever joint pain, fatigue and exhaustion.  Within a couple of months I went from being a very busy, active 27 year old involved in mountain leadership training, hockey, going to the gym and having a normal life, to being barely able to get out of bed or get up and down my stairs let alone walk to the end of the road or climb a mountain!  I was, for the first time in my life, signed off sick from work, and given strict instructions to rest – do nothing, just rest.  Unfortunately this didn’t mean sitting in front of the TV as I have a severely hypermobile coccyx so sitting is also extremely painful at times!

This was absolutely devastating to me, but I was absolutely determined that I wasn’t going to give up, let myself get down, or shove my head in the sand and hope it went away.  I decided after much soul searching that full time employment wasn’t helping matters, and found a part time job with the help from Access To Work, it was much less stressful and in a far better environment.  This also allowed me 2 days a week to dedicate to start a business.

I saw running my own business as an ideal way to work around my health problems, allowing me to work from the office or at home.  I’ve also been motivated to set up the business to be as flexible as possible for my staff, meaning that they can work anywhere in the world.  I ensure that we promote healthy working practices such as leaving the office at lunch, having staff meetings out in the fresh air where appropriate, and generally ensuring that we’re all mindful of each other’s needs.  I also encourage my staff to poke me when I’ve been at the computer for hours on end, ignoring my ‘time to take a rest break’ popups!!

I often go to shake hands with people at business events only to have them recoil.. Hopefully not because I’m scary or have some alien-style hands, but because I wear thermoplastic splints on both my thumbs to stop them dislocating!

Ruth

Caroline Waugh

Disabled Entrepreneurs: Caroline Waugh

I have always been a very ‘Bubbly’ type person. And it’s not just a polite way of saying Fat!! Because I was once thin and Bubbly!!! Then at 21 years old, I was involved in an extremely serious car accident, whilst driving back from work. I worked as a Carer on a Psychiatric ward, and I absolutely loved it!! I can’t remember the accident at all, or any of that day , for that matter. I can only repeat what others have told me, after returning to work that day, after a bout of German Measles, and being signed off. I hated being off sick, and I had been eager to return. I had finished at 3pm after an 8hr shift. Driving home on that ill fated day, no one knows why I ploughed into a Double Decker Bus, 3 Parked Cars, and finally crumpling into a Parking Meter. Did I faint? Fall asleep?

I spent the next 3 weeks, in Intensive Care, apparently I had seared the top of my brain off!! (It must have settled back, in much the right place, because I’m alright Nowwwwwww!!) type of thing.  Ruptured my spleen, punctured my lungs with broken ribs. I was wired up to a machine, which did everything for me; even moisten my eyes because I wasn’t blinking. The heart monitor used to race whenever my boyfriend visited. Which is very sad, if you witnessed the Traumatic divorce!!

I spent 6 months in hospital, and another 2 and a half years receiving  therapy Where I learnt to do things that I couldn’t do anymore, like talking,  eating, reading and writing, limping  and thinking I suppose?

I married my childhood sweetheart, after he’d made a romantic proposal, whilst receiving Physiotherapy he had set me a goal. Which I achieved, probably much to his dismay, looking back!! We went on to have a fairy tale wedding, with 100s of guests, including all the medical staff, who’d harnessed my Love of Life, and determination. We went on to have 2.4 children —-Not really   !!! But we were nearly the perfect family, with stunningly beautiful children, one of each; to the outside eye, even in my mind things were ideal. But I now know they were far from?

I’m sure you don’t really want to know all this, you want to hear of my successes? Which as Need is The Mother of Invention?  As a new single Mum, I needed to get my 2 children (aged 6 and 2, at the time) to school and nursery. I couldn’t walk that far, so I bought an Electric Mobility Scooter. Life was busy doing essentials, to keep us all together, I didn’t have time for ME.. I couldn’t go to the Gym, or Swimming, I stayed in at night looking after my kids, and eating. Inevitably I put on weight. I needed to exercise.

I had a crazy idea????

I wonder if I could cycle the school run.  It would be funny, as I didn’t know anyone who cycled, my friends were all able bodied, and car drivers. I did kinda ask my mates, what they would think of me, if I got a tricycle!!? And they laughed commenting on how eccentric I was, but I like to think they were laughing with me and not at me. And my kids??? Thought it amazing!!

Eventually I ended up speaking to Steve Marsden, of the CTC (Cycling Touring Club) I thought he’d laugh so much, at my dream. But, no he wasn’t even shocked. It was as if folk phoned up every day wanting to Cycle to School on a tricycle. A couple of weeks later, he came to my house, to ‘Check me Out’ and see what sort of cycle I might need, and if they could help I supposed.  He cycled the school run with me, knowing that this was my goal, I needed a bit of independence, and physical effort too.  We arranged to meet the following day at this Park, where he would take a tricycle for me to have a go. I had a go, and I could do it!! So I continued going for the next 12 weeks, and borrowing Gretel (the name we had given my ‘Sit Up and Beg’ tricycle). I met so many folk there, and they were all so lovely, and so different from my usual crowd of friends, not that there’s anything wrong with my usual mates.  The 2 that I hold closest to my heart, are Fred and Dave, with 40 years between them it’s obvious that it’s the common love of Cycling and People that bind them together, so much stronger than time could.

My love of cycling grew, and I developed this new Persona, I had a new interest. Why didn’t all folk with a disability Cycle? It was so Practical, and invigorating. Surely I was in an ideal position, to tell folk of the benefits. Because at the same time, as all this was going on, I began some part time work, for Adult Social Care.  So I kept turning those pedals, pressing my way, to the School gates and sticking my legs out and saying Weeeeeeeee!!!! All the way home again J

I became a Health Champion, working closely with Nigel West, who is amazing and so supportive, also a Regional Organisation called Altogether Better, and the lovely Rhian. But I couldn’t have done any of this without the gorgeous Miriam, from Zest, who nominated me for Pride of Britain. And got Steve Marsden and I invited to Buckingham Palace, this summer, for our tireless work at Hillsborough Park, Cycling 4 All.  Which I have attended between 10-3 every Thursday,  for over 2 years. Enabling folk with disabilities to cycle on a 2, 3, or 4 wheeled cycles.

My tireless work with the team, promoting Cycling For All, has gained me the role of Olympic Torch Bearer next year, in June. When hopefully I’ll be cycling and just showing that becoming ‘disabled’, has in fact ‘enabled’ me to do so many great things.

It’s great cycling on a tandem trike, or the side by side, with a person who cannot see. Or the people who ride the cool speedy KMX or low rider trikes and the freedom they get cycling around the park.  Although I’m not capable of Cycling to the Park, I have to rely on funding to get me and my Trike there.

Cycling 4 All, has closed for the winter, and I will be back in March somehow?

Maria Hanson

Maria Hanson

I have had 18 rounds of surgery – losing most of my insides along the way including my bowel and bladder and being left with two stoma bags and nerve damage as a result of the surgery and problems after having mrsa through surgery at Queens Hospital in Birmingham. I now walk with two sticks for balance and severe back problems.

Having has a traumatic time through much of the earlier surgery, and finding myself rehoused and bringing up my teenage daughters alone, and sort of round the hat tree with it all, I applied and was accepted at Derby University in 2002. I graduated with a 2:1 honours in Healing Arts and Applied Study, despite further episodes of surgery and treatment for depression.

A turning point was my study for which I chose to cover “problems faced by mature and disabled students at University”. It began with my interest to find out whether the problems I faced were unique to me, or faced by others.

I love seeds to be planted – to start thinking and puzzle solving. It was impossible throughout my research to identify problems and issues and not try to resolve them. I became heavily involved at Derby University in respect of access issues and what I felt, along with others, was an unsatisfactory evacutation procedure for disabled students.

I went on to be voted in as national womens officer and also mature students officer for the NUS.

On completing my degree, I held a position of officer for mature and disabled students for a year at the University. The funding did not follow through for a second year, but the year proved that there was a need to have attached to the student’s union someone in a like to like situation – whereby students felt more at ease with someone who could have empathy from experiencing the same situation.

From there, I went on to take the role of Disability Discrimination Act Advisor for Disability Direct in Derby. I felt quite frustrated by the limitations of the job, and took steps to start up as a consultant in my own right. Sadly, a setback saw me having major surgery which led to further complications – including being left homeless my my partner who was unable to cope with that – and more or less back to square one.

I had started up my own charity – me&dee - www.meanddee.co.uk in a very small way with my cousin Delia who sadly died just as we got it going. I covered the one treat a month I created with local fundraising.

The aim of the charity was to show that you don’t need to spend thousands making someone happy- even with not long to live – and by the same score – support and sponsorship in even the smallest way, would help me&dee thrive.

I now create around 20 special moment treats a month for when time is precious. I also have a fast track nomination process for Rainbows Hospice and the Teenage Cancer Unit at Birmingham along with children\’s oncology wards at Birmingham. I have also set up the “me&dee comfort pack scheme”. Listening to parents who, when their child is quickly admitted with a terminal condition, can go two days without a hot drink or washes, I wanted to try and address that. The comfort packs for parents contain everything two adults would need for two days from cups with hot drinks and soup sachets to towels and toiletries and pens etc. Children and teenagers have toiletries and age-appropriate toys.

These schemes will be going into Leciester Hospital early in the new year, along with Treetops Hospice. I have been to visit Hospice Hope in Ashby to see how me&dee may help them.

I would like to see the comfort pack scheme in hospitals all across England by the end of next year. I have set up a £10 sponsorship scheme to allow this to happen; this is working very well.

Me&dee has an office now at Castle Donington – paid for by a private sponsor, Martin Reith who is a relation to a little girl very close to the heart of me&dee.

As I have been working round the clock to keep me&dee afloat and raise funds too, Martin is now also paying as an independant sponsor for an office manager for 25 hours a week. Claire joins me on January 9th. I have also employed an apprentice from Myra Training.

Big trees from little acorns really do grow.

Thank you very  much for reading my story.

Maria

Evelyn Salt

When I was 23 years old my life changed overnight.

During my youth I was athletic and enthusiastic. My favourite sports were badminton, mountain biking, dancing and swimming, and I did something active almost every day.

And then, not long after my 23rd birthday I came home from one of my sporting activities with pain in my feet. A lot of pain.

A friend helped me into bed, and assured me that I should get some rest and everything would be OK in the morning.

It wasn’t.

The following morning I found that walking was extremely difficult and painful. I remember crawling to the bathroom to get washed and dressed, and tried to carry out a day as I normally would, but I found it really difficult. Not just physically, but emotionally too. What was happening to me?

It turned out that this was my new life, and I struggled to adapt. At first I was in denial and kept telling myself the pain would go away eventually and I would get better. Despite numerous scans of every kind, none of my doctors could explain this crippling pain. And it never got better.

Denial turned into acceptance, and I bought myself a wheelchair, which made life a little easier.

10 years later, I finally had a diagnosis of erythromelalgia and was given appropriate medication to keep it under reasonable control. Apparently it took this long because the disease is rare and not very well understood.

And because it is not well understood, nobody could tell me what would happen to my body if my husband and I decided to try for a baby. Nor could they tell me the likelihood of it being hereditary. My GP advised us that if we wanted to have a baby, we should go ahead and try and see what happened. So we did.

The effect of the pregnancy on my body was not good. I started using the wheelchair more and more as my condition deteriorated, and eventually I couldn’t even do that. I ended up bedridden for about four months and the pain made it hard to sleep.

The only enjoyable feature of the pregnancy was when I could feel our daughter kicking, and I experienced a thrill at the joy of creating new life.

It was during this phase that I made jewellery (in bed!) to try to keep myself occupied and keep my mind off what was happening to me. I also used healing crystals (which I later turned into jewellery) to try to help ease the pain naturally, as it was really important to me to try to minimise the drug intake at this stage. My husband handed in his resignation and became a full time carer.

After the birth of our beautiful little girl, it was about 3 months before my mobility recovered to my pre-pregnancy state. During those first 3 months, my husband did everything for our new addition (except feeding, where he brought her to me in bed).

And then he went back to work when I was able to care for her on my own.

All that time I continued making jewellery as an emotional outlet. And when I started being able to socialise again, people would ask me where I got my jewellery from, and where they could buy something like it.

So I made a small investment, set up the website and registered myself as a business. And that is how Inner Fyre Bespoke Jewellery was born!

Not only am I enjoying making the jewellery, but I’m also enjoying learning new skills too. For example, aside from the jewellery, I’ve learnt how to set up and run a small business, and do all my own accounts and tax returns. I’ve learnt a bit about marketing and advertising. I’m enjoying the thrill of not reporting to a line manager, making my own decisions, and knowing that this business will return as much as I’m willing to put into it. And best of all, I can work it around caring for our little angel.

I’m convinced that Inner Fyre would not have happened if it weren’t for the physical problems I’ve experienced. Although it certainly would have been possible, the motivation would not have been there to pursue it so passionately!

Thank you for reading my story.

Evelyn

Erasmus Habermann

Erasmus Habermann

My name is Erasmus Habermann but everybody calls me Raz. I am 27 years old. I am wheelchair bound due to cerebral palsy. I am originally from Germany however I’ve been living in the UK since 1999. I was watching Dragon’s Den one-day and since then I have always wanted to own my own business.

When I left Staffordshire University in 2007 with a higher certificate of education in multimedia computing with web media technology, I found it extremely hard to find a job.

I then started thinking I should really begin to write down my business idea – until then I had not really considered that running my own business would be a viable option for me. How wrong was I? In 2009 Habermann Translation was born…

We specialise in translations from English into German and from German to English. The business is currently run this under the permitted work scheme. Our aim is to provide an excellent service to our customers. We achieve this by tailoring our service to customer’s individual needs. We will not take on more than we can confidently handle, in other words if we get a job then we will not take other jobs on until we have completed and delivered it to the customer.

Our ethos is to deliver a good finished translation to the customer. To us it is quality not quantity that is the key to success. Feel free to take a look at what our customers have said about our company by visiting our website.

Apart from making my own business a success, I want to encourage other people in a similar position to myself to maybe start thinking about doing the same as I did. I’m doing some research at the moment; see what it is I am planning to create is an audio book. The audio book would be entitled ‘How To Set Up A Business Under The Permitted Work Scheme’. This audio book would be intended to show how Habermann Translation was set up. The information used in it would only be meant to encourage disabled people to maybe think about doing the same thing, in other words setting up their own business under the permitted work scheme. Furthermore it may also be of interest to non-disabled people. The audio book would be available to purchase for a small price per download.

For more information visit the official Habermann Translation website.

Thank you for reading my story.

Erasmus