VIDEO: Sunrise Medical and Lifestyle & Mobility support powerchair duo’s £100k charity race
Mobility retailer Lifestyle and Mobility and wheelchair manufacturer Sunrise Medical are supporting a powered wheelchair race over Wales’ highest mountain which aims to raise £100K for the Spinal Muscular Atrophy UK (SMA UK) charity.
30-year-old entrepreneur Josh Wintersgill and 18-year-old business management student, Maxwell McKnight, who both have spinal muscular atrophy, plan to race each other up Mount Snowdon on Saturday 15 June to raise £100K for the SMA UK charity.
The #KnowNoBounds mission, which is also being supported by SMA UK and JOST Explore, aims to raise awareness of the need to make the outdoors more accessible for people with disabilities and to raise enough money to buy new and expensive mobility chairs for people with SMA, to safely explore the outdoors.
Joshua Wintersgill, a Paralympian hopeful who was recently appointed as patron of Driving Mobility, is leading the campaign. He said: “Because SMA is a rare neuromuscular condition causing progressive muscle wasting and weakness, I have relied on mobility equipment since I was aged four. I was raised to ‘know no bounds’ and to see barriers as a challenge.
“I was always reminded to “put can’t in my pocket and to pull out try instead,” by my amazing Nan, who has always kept me strong and up for the challenge, no matter how testing it might be.
“By completing the race to climb Snowdon, our mission is two-fold. The first is to raise awareness of the constraints of getting outdoors for many people, including mobility users. And the second is to raise enough money for powered wheelchairs, which cost £25,000 each, for people living with SMA to benefit from the great outdoors.”
SMA UK’s CEO, Giles Lomax said: “I’m absolutely delighted to support Josh and Maxwell taking on the epic challenge of climbing Snowdon to highlight the issues wheelchair users face when trying to access the outdoors, and to also raise £100,000 so that others can have the opportunity to use all terrain wheelchairs.
“What is even more impressive is that Josh and Maxwell will be racing each other up the famous mountain with a hope of entering the Guinness book of records for the fastest climb using a powered chair. I hope you all join us cheering on the pair as they aim to summit on June 15th.”
One of Joshua’s first climbs was supposed to be Pen-y-Fen in Wales, which was cancelled when the only pathway he could have used was inaccessible due to a locked gate, with only a stile as an alternative.
So regardless of his Magic Mobility all-terrain wheelchair Josh was unable to make the climb. Much to his frustration, he was later told he’d need to email weeks in advance of his visit, to get the gate on the route opened.
Eventually making the climb at Pen-y-Fen, since then Josh has felt even more driven to highlight the issues of inaccessibility of the outdoors for mobility users.
To add to the challenge, Josh will be racing to the top of Snowdon against his friend Maxwell Mcknight which is hoped to create momentum about the event by raising visibility and encouraging as many donations as possible to the charity. The intention is to raise £100,000 for the purchase of all-terrain X8 wheelchairs, which cost £25,000 each and to fund outdoor activity weekends for people living with SMA.
Fellow racer Maxwell McKnight said “It’s not just a race against my friend and climbing rival. It’s a race for other people’s access and inclusion. With every metre covered, we challenge not just the mountain, but the barriers that confine us, unleashing our spirit of resilience in the pursuit of a truly inclusive outdoors with the funds that we raise.”
Beginning his charitable work with SMA UK, Maxwell who in his first year at Ruskin College, Cambridge, regularly shares advice on matters relating to disability including physiotherapy techniques and life in general by collaborating with several charities. In March last year, he talked alongside Phones 4u founder John Caudwell in an event which raised £2 million, which went towards funding for twenty-five wheelchairs.
Taking between 10-15 people per team to assist Josh and Maxwell to the top of Snowdon, they will carry kit and equipment such as batteries, portable ramps, food, medical equipment, tyres and more.
They will also be needed to carry the 14kg for each paramedic bag and 46kg of batteries required for each mobility chair. Josh’s and Maxwell’s condition SMA, means weakness in the hands, arms and neck which will make this challenge all the more difficult.
The race will take place on the Llanberis Path, between them Josh and Maxwell will climb 14.5km in total with an ascent of 1,085m.
Manufacturer Lifestyle and Mobility is providing Max with an X8 powered wheelchair for the race and Sunrise Medical, will be on hand throughout to offer medical supplies and support and JOST Explore, will be filming the event from start to finish.
Visit here to view the #KnowNoBounds Just Giving page.
View the #KnowNoBounds video below:
