Disabled Adventurer partners with Quantum Rehab to improve outdoor accessibility for disabled
Disabled Adventurer Nick Wilson has launched 50at50, a year-long campaign to raise £150,000 to fund and place up to eight all-terrain powerchairs from Quantum Rehab at outdoor venues around the UK to create practical, lasting access to the outdoors for disabled people.
Nick, a disabled war veteran, wheelchair user and accessibility advocate, is using the year he turns 50 to take on a series of 50km trail and coastline challenges in the UK and overseas.
But the point of 50at50 is not simply the challenge itself. It is to raise £150,000 to fund and place up to eight all-terrain Outback powerchairs from Quantum Rehab at outdoor venues and charities around the UK, alongside training and support so they can be used safely, confidently and consistently.
For many disabled people, the barrier to getting outdoors is not a lack of interest. It is cost, access to the right equipment, and the fact that too many places still are not set up in a way that makes outdoor adventure possible.
Nick says 50at50 has been built with that reality in mind. “Too many adventures end at inspiration,” he said. “Disabled people are often expected to watch, applaud and feel inspired, while someone else gets to do the thing. I want this campaign to be about practical access instead.
“50at50 is about building the kit, the capability and the pathway so disabled people and wounded veterans can get outdoors properly, not just watch someone else do it.
“If we can place all-terrain powerchairs in the right locations, with the right support around them, that starts to remove one of the biggest barriers. It gives people the chance to experience places that might otherwise be completely out of reach.”
The campaign reflects both the timing and the ambition. Nick turns 50 on 14 July, and throughout the year he will complete 50km sections of trails in the UK, the United States, Austria and Dubai. The 50km distance has been chosen as a benchmark for what could become realistically achievable off-road with the right equipment and improved battery performance.
Alongside the fundraising, 50at50 also has a wider innovation focus. Nick hopes the campaign will help push forward conversations around battery performance, rapid charging and the future of multi-day adaptive off-road expeditions, moving beyond short, one-off experiences and towards something more ambitious, repeatable and genuinely accessible.
Confirmed recipients of all-terrain powerchairs include Calvert Devon, Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust, Stanwick Lakes, and National Trust teams in the Midlands, East of England and the Lake District.
For disabled readers, the campaign’s longer-term aim is simple: to help make outdoor access less dependent on luck, specialist contacts or being able to afford expensive equipment personally. Instead, Nick wants more disabled people to be able to turn up at a venue and actually have the means to explore it.
Barry Kaufman-Hill, Development & Operations Manager at Calvert Devon, said: “For 30 years, Calvert Devon has been working to remove barriers to adventure, and 50at50 is exactly the kind of initiative that turns that vision into something tangible.
This is not about inspiration alone. It is about access. The introduction of an all-terrain powerchair at our centre will enable more people to experience the outdoors in ways that were previously out of reach.”
The campaign will also include a film element, documenting the challenge and the wider proof of concept behind it. Nick will again work with producer Ben Kelly following their documentary about Nick’s solo ascent of Yr Wyddfa using an extreme all-terrain powerchair prototype.
Nick says he wants the campaign to speak not just to outdoor audiences, but to disabled people who have spent years being told, directly or indirectly, that certain places are not for them.
“There are so many disabled people who would love to get outdoors more, but the practical barriers are still massive,” he said. “This campaign is about changing that in a way that is useful, visible and lasting.
“It is not about pretending every barrier disappears overnight. It is about putting more equipment, more opportunity and more access into the real world, where people can actually use it.”
Supporters will be able to follow the campaign throughout the year, with updates, fundraising information and sponsorship details available here.
