"We need to change things and we need to think in new ways about big things." Pete Donnelly, Founder, The Wheelchair Skills College, and Churchill Fellow.

Pete Donnelly has been an active member of our Social Founders network for a few years now, coming to our Forums, matched with an experienced Founder mentor, and encouraged to apply, successfully, to the Churchill Fellowship for a paid learning journey to meet other social founders supporting wheelchair users in Australia and New Zealand.

Enjoy reading about Pete's founder story, and his Fellowship travels in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, at this key stage of his organisation's growth and impact. And comments much welcomed of course.

We all know that things aren’t working. Everyday we read about new crises; housing, healthcare, social care, cost of living. It seems that we have a new one every day of the week.

"We need to change things and we need to think in new ways about big things."

I had been working in the Third Sector, specifically in disability charities, for 10 years as a programme manager and while there had been lots of great projects that I was proud to be part of, I also felt that there was something missing. I felt like the vision and values of the charities that I had worked for didn’t align with my own.

"I felt like the programmes that I had worked on, while impactful, weren’t the best way to achieve the social change needed to make the world a more equitable place for disabled people."

One day I was listening to Cemal Ezel speak about his experience of setting up his social enterprise, Change Please. During his talk, he spoke about the ‘rocking chair test’ in which you visualise yourself sat in a rocking chair in the twilight years of your life. You are in a calm peaceful place, a place of satisfaction and no regret, content with what you have achieved. You start to reflect on your life as you sit in the rocking chair about all the parts of your life; family, friends, love, loss, accomplishments - everything that has been before.

As you reflect on your life, you pick out the one thing that made you most proud. This doesn’t necessarily have to be something that you have achieved today, but something that you are able to look back on in the future. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen at this talk but out of nowhere the idea of wheelchair skills popped into my head.

"Out of nowhere the idea of wheelchair skills popped into my head."

I’ve been using a wheelchair for the last 18 years and so when I saw an opportunity to take the wheelchair skills that had made a huge difference to my life to more people it seemed like a no brainer. We have something that improves people’s quality of life at a relatively low cost - why is this not already happening?

I was working in a role that felt stable, which is a comfortable position to be in, but now that I had an idea of founding my own organisation in an area that I was more passionate about, teaching wheelchair skills, I couldn’t stop thinking about how exciting leaving work and setting up something on my own would be.

"Now that I had an idea of founding my own organisation in an area that I was more passionate about, teaching wheelchair skills, I couldn’t stop thinking about how exciting leaving work and setting up something on my own would be."

When the idea first came to me, I had no idea how to set up my own not for profit organisation. I had worked in programme delivery and development for 10 years so I knew lots about how to run things in the background, the knowledge and skills were transferable to lots of aspects of what I was going into - and the rest I could always learn.

It’s hard to pick out one thing that finally made me take the leap. I guess it was a case of thinking “if not me, then who? And if not now, then when?”.

“If not me, then who? And if not now, then when?”

I found an answer to why this is not already happening when I started trying to find ways to deliver this empowering training, coming across multiple barriers from rigid structures and systems that aim to retain power to the ableism in society.

"Multiple barriers from rigid structures and systems that aim to retain power to the ableism in society."

I’ve not yet solved the social issue that I set out to fix but I’m making progress and working in a space that feels like it’s the right space for me to be in.

When I look at leaving my last role, there are things that I miss. The stability of a guaranteed monthly pay slip and the social environment of being in an office are the big two.

"But would I change what I have to get those back? No chance."

Back to making social change. From my experience, the innovation space is an exclusive space that primarily focuses on tech ideas focused on ROI rather than offering opportunities for those who are looking to make social change. Of course there is space for capitalism, but what about thinking differently and understanding the need for change that will see a social return on investment?

Then I started to wonder: if I’m having these difficulties, what about other disabled people that have ideas on how to make change? How many potential innovators are being held back because they are disabled? The disabled community isn’t a small population. Latest government figures are that 24% of the UK population is disabled in some way.

I heard about the Social Founders network and started attending their forums, meeting with, and being inspired by, other founders at all stages of their journeys. I was lucky to be matched by Social Founders to my mentor, Su Sayer CBE, the highly experienced founder of United Response, a massive social care charity and social enterprise.

"How many potential innovators are being held back because they are disabled?"

To find out an answer to this issue, I applied for and was awarded a Churchill Fellowship which Social Founders also told me about, and encouraged me to apply to.

The Churchill Fellowship offers change makers an opportunity to travel overseas to learn about how other places are solving these same problems.

With lower cultural barriers, no language barrier and progressive attitudes toward disability I decided that Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand would be the ideal place to explore solutions. The stunning landscapes and warmer climate were the cherry on top!

For my research “Building innovation through lived experience of disability” I interviewed people from all parts of the ecosystem that disabled innovators are part of. I used semi- structured interviews to engage with the areas that I wanted information on, whilst allowing the breadth of conversation to expand organically.

It’s about changing various parts of the ecosystem to remove barriers and implement support.

It’s about changing what the current accepted state of innovation is and making it more inclusive in the process.

Recommendations outlined in my report include actions that need to be taken by various stakeholders including government, support organisations, disabled innovators and the wider disabled community - all aimed at creating a more equitable landscape for disabled innovators.

Following on from the recommendations that I made in my Churchill Fellowship report, I am partnering with Solico to develop a pilot disabled innovators pathway that will run at the Health Foundry in Lambeth, London.

The best part of the Churchill Fellowship for me was being able to connect with other disabled innovators from across the world, and through that realising I am part of a global community which felt both reassuring and heartening.

Hearing from people from very different backgrounds at different stages of their innovation journey who were all aiming for different goals gave me an appreciation of how substantial this group is.

"Realising I am part of a global community felt both reassuring and heartening."

Thanks for reading this blog. Pete would love to hear of your own experiences, solutions and, of course, to connect. Please add a comment on this blog below, and then check out Pete's report and website.

Pete Donnelly is a Churchill Fellow and Founder of The Wheelchair Skills College, a social enterprise led by lived experience with the vision of every wheelchair user given the opportunity to learn vital wheelchair skills.

Read Pete Donnelly's Churchill Fellowship report "Building innovation through lived experience of disability."