Wizzybug

Aim

We are a registered charity based in Bath and our project provides our unique powered wheelchairs to disabled children between 18 months and 5 years, free of charge, to change their lives. We are aiming to raise over £1m to build 250 Wizzybugs to loan out across the UK and we are almost half way there and have changed the lives of over 90 disabled children since we started the scheme 3 years ago. Each Wizzybug is loaned out several times and is reconditioned between each loan in our workshop. Each Wizzybug in the scheme costs £4250

The Wizzybug is a fun powered wheelchair designed specifically for disabled children under five.

Even those as young as 18 months can operate its simple controls, allowing them to zip around with their peers, developing spatial awareness, social interaction and independence. It can be used indoors and out of doors in accessible areas such as level gardens, playgrounds and parks, enabling children to enjoy the experience of mobility with their "first wheels".

We are looking for your support to make Wizzybugs available to more children across the UK!

After taking home their Wizzybug, one family told us:

“watching him move in his Wizzybug is like watching a child take their first step”.

The mother of twin girls commented recently:

 "I like to take the girls to the park but Sophia used to get very frustrated when Layla could just play and interact with other children and she couldn't. Now she is able to make independent decisions herself and interact with others."

We designed the Wizzybug in collaboration with Medical Engineers, Occupational Therapists and families of disabled children.

To enable as many children as possible to benefit, we have set up a Loan Scheme. There is often no NHS funding for powered mobility for children under 5 so we provide Wizzybugs to families who would otherwise be unable to afford one and can be used by the child until they have outgrown it. The Wizzybug is then returned to us, refurbished and then loaned to more families. 

The cost of providing each Wizzybug under the scheme is £4250. Any donation you are able to make towards the Loan Scheme would be very gratefully received.

The Wizzybug

Wizzybug addresses the needs of children diagnosed with conditions that restrict independent mobility, including cerebral palsy, spinal muscular atrophy and muscular dystrophy.

We have a close partnership with the Children’s Centre at the Royal United Hospital in Bath and in the early 1990s, in consultation with parents of disabled children and healthcare professionals, we developed a powered buggy. Since then the design has been refined, following assessment of how the Wizzybug is used by children and advice from health professionals, to give the current model. These are produced in the workshop here at Designability, using locally sourced components.

The current Wizzybug has a versatile range of controls and seating adjustments, which are adapted to the requirements of each individual child. It is compact and so can be used indoors and it is also robust enough to be used out of doors in gardens and parks.

Benefits of the Wizzybug

Independent mobility is key to a child’s development in their early years and the benefits of the Wizzybug fall into three main areas:

Psychological development: Wizzybugs contribute to children’s development by enabling exploration of their surroundings and developing spatial awareness, social interaction and motivation. The challenge of operating a Wizzybug provides an opportunity for the child to develop new skills and for their abilities to be seen by carers and therapists.

Participation: mobility enables a child to participate in all sorts of activities with others and also encourages adults and other children to see the child as an autonomous individual, to be included on an equal basis. This can make possible an introduction to simple indoor and outdoor games and sports

Play: a really important point is that Wizzybugs enable children to have fun. Family life can be more enjoyable, such as a visit to the park, and relationships between siblings can be improved.

In the longer term, the aim is to enhance the development of children so that they achieve their full potential. It offers a natural progression for the child, and their family, to adapt to the use of a wheelchair as an older child and later into adult life

Wizzybug Loan Scheme

Our Loan Scheme provides young disabled children with independent mobility in their early years.

Why did we establish the Scheme?

Unfortunately, there are many families who would benefit from a Wizzybug but are denied the opportunity through lack of funds. There is often no NHS funding for powered mobility aids for children under 5, so most families need to approach charities or organise fundraising events. Not every family has the capacity, resources or simply the energy to do this.

What is the need?

We have liaised with two charities supporting families of children with cerebral palsy, Scope and Cerebra. We estimate that over 1000 babies are born each year with cerebral palsy and we are advised that the majority would benefit significantly from using a Wizzybug from the age of 18 months upwards.

Benefits of the scheme:

• We can make the Wizzybug available to all families that can benefit
• The Wizzybug is made available more quickly, to benefit children earlier during their formative years.
• We can help children aged 3 to 4 years old, for whom the purchase has historically proved not to be viable due to the short period of use until they outgrow the vehicle.

How does the scheme work?

We receive enquiries from families and therapists, and we are making the Wizzybugs available on the basis of need. This is determined by the child’s referring therapist, who is required to provide us with a written recommendation confirming that the child will benefit from a Wizzybug. To ensure the Wizzybug is appropriate for each child, all families and their therapists are invited to Designability for a demonstration and assessment.

At the start, the goals for progress in the child’s use of the Wizzybug are agreed by our Occupational Therapist, the parents and the child’s therapist.  We contact the families of children using a Wizzybug during their period of loan to monitor how the child is benefiting from using the Wizzybug and these are assessed against the initial goals. We follow up with each family on the scheme after 4 weeks, and then every 6 months, to see how they are getting on and reassess the situation if necessary. At the end, the family fills out a report form, which is reviewed by our Occupational Therapist.

Our plan

We plan to make 250 Wizzybugs available to families across mainland UK through the Loan Scheme. The cost of providing each Wizzybug is £4250, which includes the basic vehicle itself along with “optional extras” required by some children, and costs of reconditioning and replacement parts over a 5-year period.

Each Wizzybug is loaned out at least 3 times in the scheme. This means every Wizzybug will transform at least 3 more disabled children’s lives.

The total cost of the scheme is over £1 million.

We started fundraising for the scheme in 2010 and have so far been successful in providing 90 Wizzybugs to families.

About Designability

Designability (Bath Institute of Medical Engineering) is a registered charity, established in 1968. We have a proven track record of designing and developing innovative technology solutions for disabled people.

• We work closely with disabled people and their families to ensure our designs really work.
• We employ professional design engineers and healthcare personnel.
• We are an independent charity but work closely with the University of Bath and the Royal United Hospital, Bath.
• We have offices and a workshop in the Wolfson Centre, Royal United Hospital, with security of tenure.
• We aim to make all our successful designs available to the people who need them.
• We know we can make a difference and improve the quality of people’s lives – we have completed over 300 projects and supplied our products to over 200,000 people. 

Take a look at a video of how the Wizzybug makes a difference...

Check out our website - www.designability.org.uk

Please help us by supporting the Wizzybug Loan Scheme for young disabled children!

This project closed unsuccessfully on 10th January 2014