WE DID IT! WE SKATED TO PARIS FOR THE PARALYMPICS

What an adventure. Wheels and Wheelchairs is proud to say we completed our 120 mile epic skate from England to Paris for the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games.

Thank you to our fantastic wheelchair users, support crew, skaters, Mobile en Ville Parisian friends, donors, fundraisers, passerby who waved us on, towns who hosted us and journalists who wrote about us and of course the Paralympic Games. See more here in the coverage from the official Olympic Broadcasting Service and read our President, Isaac Harvey’s blog here.

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO

We are a group of wheelchair users and skaters who go out together to enjoy the sensory rush of speed and accessible sport.

Wheelchair users are pushed by skaters. We meet on Saturdays in Battersea Park, London, with the Easy Saturday Skate group. We skate three laps (five miles), with our wheelchairs setting the pace. This is a great way for beginners to get to know the sport.

Regular Street Strolls are the next step up for our crew. They’re faster and start in Hyde Park, then follow carefully chosen routes, past the capital’s major landmarks (about 10 miles). These are led by the London Friday Night Skate & Sunday Stroll.

We also tackle more adventurous challenges like roller marathons in Europe and route-tested trips like Bath to Bristol.

If you are a wheelchair user or carer, or an experienced skater who would like to volunteer to push, we would love to hear from you.

We are grateful to the National Lottery for their donation for equipment to allow more disabled people to participate.

If you’d like to enable more wheelchair users to access this fabulous sport please DONATE here. Thank you!

NEWS

Brighton to Paris Paralympic Skate

August, 2024

Wheels and Wheelchairs is excited to announce we will be skating from Brighton to Paris to celebrate the 2024 Paralympics and to raise funds for our unique disability-focused sporting charity.

This exhilarating and ambitious journey will take place from Saturday 24 August from Hove Lawns, East Sussex, and will arrive four days later in the French capital in time for the Paralympics 2024 Opening Ceremony. The route will take our four to six wheelchair users, numerous skaters and supporters over 121 miles from Hove through Brighton and Newhaven, then across the channel through Dieppe, and Forge les Eaux.

We can’t wait. We’d love to see you along the way.

ALONG THE THAMES IN MEMORY OF OUR FRIENDS

16 March, 2024

We had the most fabulous skate in collaboration with our friends at the charity Grief Encounter. From Battersea Park to London Bridge and back, we skated in honour of skaters and wheelchair users we have lost since starting Wheels And Wheelchairs.

It was a beautiful day, speeding along the River Thames pathways and past many London landmarks. We were pleased the day raised £20,000 for bereaved children, young people and their families across the UK.

We also raised £1,000 for Wheels And Wheelchairs. Huge thanks to everyone who helped organise the skate and to those of you who donated.

Thanks go to PA journalist Danielle Desouza who covered the event across national and regional media. You can see the reports here

WE’RE SHORTLISTED FOR COMMUNITY GROUP OF THE YEAR IN THE SCOPE AWARDS

24 January, 2024

We are thrilled to be nominated alongside some really cool organisations for the Scope Disability Equality Awards’ Community Group of the Year. The ceremony takes place in April so we’ll update you all then. We have asked if we can wear rollerblades with our ball gowns and tuxedos.

SIMPLY HAVING A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS SKATE

December, 2023

More than three hundred Santas, four wheelchair users, six reindeer and a Rudolph skated through the West End of London to bring Christmas cheer to shoppers and partygoers; From Admiralty Arch, up Park Lane, through the back streets to Berkley Square, up Regent’s Street, underneath the lights of Oxford Street, Bond Street and Savile Row, we skated. Then down to Trafalgar Square, up the Strand, through Holborn, Drury Lane, and up to King’s Cross. What a fun night.

THREE NEW WHEELCHAIRS, THANKS TO YOU

October, 2023

Thanks to the generous hearts of donors to Wheels And Wheelchairs, we’ve secured three brand-new chairs. Blue, green and (missing from the picture) orange, all the same model and all able to attach to our existing Lomo front wheels.

These are sturdier, have slanted wheels to make them easier to maneuver than our older wheelchairs and can be fitted with bespoke cushions to allow for different body shapes and increased comfort. They also feel smoother on road surfaces, ensuring our roller skaters and wheelchair users have an even better time together.

Our goal is to raise funds for a fourth top-notch wheelchair.

If you are enable to donate, please click the button at the top right of our home page banner. Consider it an investment in joy and inclusivity.

Thank you for being the wind beneath our wheels.

Four minutes faster at the berlin marathon

September, 2023

Team Isaac knocked four minutes off their previous time for the Berlin Marathon.

Average speed 20.7 kmph, fastest speed 48.3 kmph. Official time`: 2 hours, 0 minutes and 26 seconds.

July, 2023

OMG, ISAAC’S AN MBE!

December 2022

We are proud to announce our President, Isaac Harvey has been made an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List.

Isaac has been skating with us for four years and has been President for three.

His energy and ambition for Wheels And Wheelchairs is boundless and we feel so lucky to have him on board.

If you’d like to know more about Mr Harvey MBE, and his story, follow him on LinkedIn. His posts describe with great honesty how he feels about being disabled, the opportunities it affords him and about his mental health. It’s also a remarkable tale of what is possible.

Isaac, we salute you.

ONE MILLION THANK YOUS

December 2022

What a way to wake up! We are thrilled to have won the Good Morning Britain One Million Minutes Local Loneliness Hero Award.

GMB’s brilliant campaign asks viewers to donate their time - rather than money - to helping others. They stumbled across Wheels And Wheelchairs on social media and thought that what our volunteers do exemplifies that idea.

Weather presenter Laura Tobin brought her daughter Charlotte to Battersea Park to skate with us and interview our co-founder Muhayman Jamil and families who skate. She then surprised us by presenting the skaters and wheelchair users with our award, along with actor, model and poet Ekow Otoo. Ekow loved the idea so much we took him for a spin in his chair. He’s promised to be back.

Our President, Isaac, and Ekow were interviewed on the famous GMB sofa by presenters Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard.

We dedicate this award to Alan Paxford, co-founder of Wheels and Wheelchairs, who died earlier this month but truly personified the One Million Minutes ideal.

IT AIN’T CHRISTMAS UNTIL WE’VE Whizzed around LONDON’S LIGHTS

December 2022

Thank you Jonathan Chen for the film and London Street Skates for organising one of our favourite events of the year. Merry Christmas x

ALAN PAXFORD (1945 - 2022)

December 2022

Alan Paxford loved dashing about on a pair of skates he was bought as a child but like most children put his wheels to one side as he grew up.

In his mid-fifties, Alan was looking for a distraction in life and remembered the thrill of those skates. He re-learned skating and realised he was pretty good at it. His lean, athletic frame lent itself to speed skating and soon he was not only marshalling street skates but leading those excursions, as well as winning skate marathons.

Alan, a theatre and TV actor, was one of the skaters involved in the Paris to London epic skate that brought French wheelchair users over for the Paralympics. Alan led the jubilant final leg of the trip from Hyde Park to the Olympic and was key to London-based skaters replicating the French charity in the UK.

Our Secretary, Muhayman Jamil, remembers: “There was a spirt of exhilaration on that first skate, it was unthinkable that you could rollerblade from Paris to London with wheelchair users. Everyone was enthusiastic about creating a charity here but it was Alan’s persistence and perseverance that gave us the momentum to actually do it. Alan made the very first donation to the charity - to help pay for our insurance. He was the one who stayed involved from the start until his health began to fade. We will miss him.”

Our thoughts go to Alan family, we wouldn’t be here without him.

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY TO US

October 2022

Wheels and Wheelchairs is a direct legacy of the London Paralympics 2012. French group Mobile En Ville decided to skate from Paris to London to join the fun - while pushing wheelchairs. They enlisted London street skaters who enjoyed the trip so much and could see the value in reducing the isolation and increasing the fun factor for wheelchair users. So our little charity was born. Since then we’ve covered more than 5,000 miles , complete NINE marathons, FOUR relay challenges and visited FIVE countries and received ONE honour from the Prime Minister. Most importantly, we have loved every minute of our adventures. Thank you to anyone who’s ever donated and anyone who’s ever helped out. Here’s to the next ten years.

TESTING A NEW CHAIR AT THE BERLIN MARATHON

September 29, 2022

What better way to test our new chair than to try it out at the BMW Berlin Skate Marathon?

The chair was so lightweight our team sped through the course in 2.09.04.

Three skaters, Muhayman, Alastair and Hub - from our French counterparts Mobile En Ville - and wheelchair user Isaac, started at the historic Reichstag and raced through the beautiful city, past the Berlin Wall and the Victory Column, finishing at the Brandenburg Gate, cheered by the crowd all the way round.

It was great to see the Belgian wheelchair team - and to overtake them ;)

At the after-party Wheels and Wheelchairs featured in the highlights reel, and received more cheers.

Before the race, the team tested the new chair and the skater formation at what used to be the Tempelhof Airport. They reported it was strange going through the baggage reclaim of an airport that’s no longer used but the runway made a perfect skate track.

LEAN GREEN MEAN MACHINE

August 2022

We’ve invested in a new wheelchair. It’s green, it’s lightweight, therefore faster, easier to manoeuvre and it’s more comfortable.

After receiving a grant from the National Lottery we found wheelchair suppliers GRX Life, The team there helped us design a bespoke chair, then built it to our specifications. The frame is more rigid the skater who are pushing had greater control.

Isaac has been using it for Battersea skates. He says: “It looks and feels like it’s meant for sport. Every one wanted to push this chair with or without me in it!”

Thank you much to the National Lottery for funding this equipment. We hope to add more to our fleet. See the donate button on the top right-hand side of this page if you would like to contribute.

AN AWARD FROM BOJO

December 2021

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has recognised the brilliance of Wheels And Wheelchairs by giving co-founder Muhayman Jamil and President Isaac Harvey Points of Light Awards. These are given to outstanding individuals who are making a difference in their communities.

In a message to Muhayman, the PM said:

“Being Mayor of London during the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics was an extraordinary privilege and I never cease to be amazed by the legacy created by our wonderful athletes.

“‘Wheels and Wheelchairs’ epitomises the spirit of that special summer by breaking down barriers to sport participation and getting thousands of disabled people out on their wheels.”

In a personal letter to Isaac, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

“Almost a decade on, the legacy of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is still a source of pride for many Londoners. Your wheelchair races in Battersea Park are a fantastic example of that legacy in action, enabling hundreds of disabled people to enjoy the speed and thrill of roller sport.”

James Murray, MP for Ealing North, said:

“I am delighted that one of Northolt’s own, Dr Muhayman Jamil, has received the Prime Minister’s Points of Light award for his work founding ‘Wheels and Wheelchairs’. I am sure his efforts will have inspired so many people to change the way they think about disability, and I want to offer him my warmest congratulations.”

Muhayman and Isaac said:

“Our main goal and focus has always been and always will be making sure that all of the young people with a wide variety of different disabilities who come out with us, experience something unique and enjoyable. Whenever we are given awards like this, it can be used to further our cause and for that we are truly grateful.”

KEEN AS MUSTARD

October 2021

Bien fait! to our Wheels and Wheelchairs crew for completing the Dijon Inline Marathon Des Grand Crus. Matthew’s team, Muhayman, Alastair and our Mobiles En Ville friend, Audrey, completed the half marathon route in one hour and 24 minutes. Thank you to Eurostar for the wheelchair-friendly travel. Well done to you all.

WE CAM, WE SAW, WE Ate Cheese toasties

October 2021

Cambridge has seen a huge growth in skaters particularly since lockdown. We were lucky enough to be invited by the Cambridge Skate Group to a Sunday stroll along the Busway to the north of the beautiful city.

We are used to skating in London’s parks so it was exciting to power 20 miles through open fields alongside this high-speed bus route (the longest busway in the world). Elvi, Gemma and Matthew were pushed by a mix of London and Cambridge skaters. We found the most obliging cafe owner in the village of Swavesey, who stayed open to make more than 30 toasties for our crew.

Thank you having us, Cambridge, we will be back.

WE’RE BACK AND ON A ROLL

May, 2021

We’ve embraced the new rules allowing sporting groups to meet outside again. Not just one but FOUR events have been organised by our team and enjoyed by all who took part.

We started with an EASTER SKATE from St Joseph’s Hospice, Hackney, to Ilford, Essex, and back along the Greenway cycle track via some challenging slopes! It was such a joy to be back together again and great to have three wheelchair users taking part as well as family members on bikes and of course some pretty experienced skaters. Thank you to the Easter Bunny for rocking up too.

Next our route checkers worked out a new SOUTH LONDON trail from Battersea Park to Burgess Park and back. Thanks to Law for the suggestion. Again, we had a great turn out and three wheelchair users.

Then it was back to Victoria Park, Hackney, where our team hooked up with another charity to give some children with disabilities a tryout of wheelchair skating. Lots of happy faces!

Our fourth adventure in as many weeks was another new route from RAYNES PARK to KINGSTON and back along a cycle track, through the back streets of the ‘burbs and down to the Thames.

Thank you to all the experienced skaters who came to marshall and help push on these skates, we love your company and watching your blading brilliance.

A Question of SUPPORT

January, 2021

A million thank yous to Simon and Richard from Seventh Heaven Quizzes. They donated £310 from one of their regular Friday night lockdown brain testers to Wheels And Wheelchairs. We are really grateful and will put the money towards a new Lomo wheel so we can take more wheelchair users out with us. We really enjoyed the night too, coming a respectable third out of 30 teams (tricky bridges round did for us). The quizzes are open to anyone and are a great way to end a lockdown week.

HAPPY 2021

We may not be able to go skating in January but we will spend out lockdown time planning exciting events for the future. Keep following us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for more news.

OUR PRESIDENT INTERVIEWED ON INSTAGRAM

December, 2020

Thank you @elena_k for spreading the word about Wheels and Wheelchairs and featuring our President, Isaac Harvey, in this Instagram interview: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJbXyDpAC8X/

COME TO OUR VIRTUAL AGM: 4pm, November 22nd, 2020

Yes, it’s on Zoom but yes you should attend because we’ve had a really exciting year and we would love to celebrate with our wheelchair users and hard working volunteers. We also need your input because 2021 is going to be exciting. Keep an eye out here for the link. Everyone welcome.

WE’VE BEEN SHOPPING

October 2020

THANK YOU National Lottery players, you have funded two new Lomo wheels for us. They arrived at WWCHQ today and brightened up a dark, stormy afternoon. They attach to the front of a wheelchair and the front two wheels of the wheelchair lift off the ground, providing extra speed and stability. With two new wheels we can take two more wheelchair users skating. We are fundraising for more wheels, some new wheelchairs and storage for our specialist equipment so that we can give as many people as possible the opportunity to skate. You can donate at the link above. Thank you.

RED BULL GiVEs YOU WINS

October 2020

They did it! Our Wheels and Wheelchair team skated for 25 hours in the Red Bull Time Laps challenge. Allowing that extra hour for the clocks going back, they skated 215.82 MILES. Let’s just say that again. Two hundred and fifteen point eight two MILES. In an autumnal storm and on a cycle track in Ruislip and they beat cyclists doing the same the same challenge. Nothing can stop these guys. Congratulations to Singe, Kevin, Muhayman, Emmy, Karen, Alastair and all the other skaters who turned up to push Isaac in his wheelchair through the night and into Sunday morning. You are all officially crazy but we’re super proud of you.

Singe’s write up: “An incredibly tight team managed to pull this off despite dire conditions! It’s wonderful to have this pocket of sunshine in hard times. Thank you all so much Wheels and Wheelchairs. We completed about 1,000 laps. Nine marathons. The worst bit was having had an hour’s sleep, dry, cosy and then being woken to realise you have to get your ass up quick, shiver as you change, then worse - put on your drenched clothes, socks and skates and get out there in the tempest. But without this we wouldn’t realise what an amazing team we are. Together everything is possible.”

EASTENDERS

October 2020

Negotiating a steep, short, slope smack bang next to a canal while on skates and pushing a wheelchair is not everybody’s idea of fun but the Wheels and Wheelchair crew laugh in the face of challenge and skate on through - well, all except Sam who took one skate off and hopped down the slope. Our route today took us through East London from St Joseph’s Hospice, through Hackney, the East End, the City, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, the Barbican, along the canal and back to the hospice. Ten miles of urban streets, tow paths, London landmarks and laughs. This was a fundraiser for more equipment, you can donate here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Team/WheelsandWheelchairs1

SUPPORT FOR LAW, COS THE LAW WON

Wheels and Wheelchairs volunteer Law Cheung was supposed to skate the Berlin Marathon this year but certain world events meant the race was cancelled. So Law decided to travel to Berlin and do the distance anyway to raise money for us. We are SO grateful, particularly because the weather was great for ducks but terrible for rollerblades. You can make a donation here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LAWCHEUNG

HE’s THE ‘MAN

Our Chairman, Dr Muhayman Jamil, is featured in the Heart Of The Nation exhibition curated by London’s Migrant Museum. It tells the story of the individuals who came to Britain and built the NHS, as we saw in lockdown many still provide the backbone of our Health Service. Muhayman went from Iraqi conscript to neurosurgeon in the UK and ultimately a career in palliative care in London. The exhibition even reveals how Muhayman discovered inline skating. We are extremely proud of him and forever grateful he co-founded this group. Read more here: https://heartofthenation.migrationmuseum.org/on-the-job/muhayaman-jamil/

Brighton Rock AND Roll

September 2020

Wheels and Wheelchairs had a fantastic trip to Brighton on a hot day in late September. With 20 plus skaters and four wheelchair users we skated from Hove, along the seafront to Saltdean and back. The cycle paths allowed us to avoid pedestrians and keep socially distanced. After 16 miles on such a hot day there was only one way to celebrate arriving back in Hove - a swim in the sea, oh and fish and chips for tea.

GO WEST: BATH TO BRISTOL

August 2020

Take 13 skaters, two wheelchairs and a pelaton of accompanying cyclists and you have Wheels And Wheelchairs’ adventure in the West Country. Starting from Bath we skated the 11 miles to Bristol and back via an incredible cycle track built on an old railway line.

The path was bumpy and a little wet but the views were glorious.

Last Leg presenter Adam Hills teams up with W&W for Channel 4 show

June 2020

As a disabled sports team we love taking part in the Superhero Tri events organised for athletes of all ages and abilities by brilliant Paralympian runner Sophia Warner.

With the pandemic in full swing this year’s events were a bit different and had to take place at home rather than at Dorney Lake, Windsor. Wheels and Wheelchairs always rise to a challenge so we signed up to create a team with our friends at the children’s disability book series Treehouse Genies.

Imagine our excitement when we were told not only was The Last Leg presenter Adam Hills going to be our team captain but that our team, led by Elvi, would be featured in the Channel Four show At Home Superheroes, covering the event.

We spent weeks filming ourselves for the show, chatting to Adam via Zoom while he was locked down in Australia, and being interviewed by Claire Balding. Even on the other side of the world Adam was an inspirational captain, urging us to rack up our skate miles.

Claire told us: “you wouldn’t get me on a pair of rollerskates.” Claire, if we can do it, you can. Consider this an open invitation to come skating. You can see the Channel 4 special here: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/superhero-tri/on-demand/71479-001

It all started when…

A French organisation called Mobile En Ville got in touch with some London speed skaters.

Mobile En Ville had invented the concept of wheelchair skating and had the crazy idea of rollerbladers pushing wheelchair users from Paris to London for the 2012 London Paralympics.

Of course the London speed skaters agreed to help them out. And they did it.

Our founders took it further. They decided London should have a wheelchair skating group and so Wheels And Wheelchairs was born in October 2012.

We still love nothing more than getting together with our French friends for a wheelchair skate and a good meal.

 Wheels And Wheelchairs Safeguarding Policy

 Wheels And Wheelchairs Safeguarding Policy, Written 2023, revised July 2024

Note: The terms ‘child’ and ‘young person’ describe any person under the age of 18.

References to ‘parents’ should be read as parents and carers inclusively.

Our Statement

Wheels And Wheelchairs acknowledges the duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people and is committed to ensuring safeguarding practice reflects statutory responsibilities, government guidance and complies with best practice requirements.

The policy recognises that the welfare and interests of children are paramount in all circumstances. It aims to ensure that regardless of age, ability or disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, socio-economic background, all children:

• have a positive and enjoyable experience of sport at Wheels And Wheelchairs in a safe and child-centred environment

• are protected from abuse whilst participating in wheelchair skating or outside of the activity

We acknowledge that some children, including disabled children, young people with learning disabilities, or those from ethnic minority communities, can be particularly vulnerable to abuse and we accept the responsibility to take reasonable and appropriate steps to ensure their welfare.

Our Policy

What we’ll do

As part of our safeguarding policy we will:

• promote and prioritise the safety and wellbeing of children and young people

• value, listen to and respect children

• ensure robust safeguarding arrangements and procedures are in operation

• adopt safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for volunteers

• ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding and is provided with appropriate learning opportunities to recognise, identify and respond to signs of abuse, neglect and other safeguarding concerns relating to children and young people

• provide effective management for volunteers through supervision and support so that all volunteers know about our policies, procedures and behaviour codes and follow them confidently and competently

• ensure appropriate action is taken in the event of incidents or concerns of abuse and support provided to the individual(s) who raise or disclose the concern

• ensure that confidential, detailed and accurate records of all safeguarding concerns are maintained and securely stored

• record and store information securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance

• prevent the deployment of unsuitable individuals by recruiting and selecting volunteers carefully

• appoint a nominated safeguarding lead for children and young people

• share information about safeguarding and good practice with children and their parents via our website

• make sure that children, young people and their parents know where to go for help if they have a concern

The policy and procedures will be widely promoted for everyone involved in Wheels And Wheelchairs. Failure to comply with the policy and procedures will be addressed without delay and may ultimately result in exclusion from the organisation.

Monitoring

This policy will be reviewed a year after development and then every three years, or in the following circumstances:

• changes in legislation and/or government guidance

• as a result of any other significant change or event.

This policy was last reviewed on 16 July 2024.

www.wheelsandwheelchairs.co.uk