Powerchair Trek from Land’s End to John O’Groats

The thought of walking the lenght of the UK would be daunting enough for most of us.  Spare a thought then for disability rights campaigner Martyn Sibley, who recently completed the 854 mile journey in his powerchair.

It took Martyn, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a month to complete the challenge with his girlfriend Kasia cycling beside him.

Determination

Martyn was determined to complete the journey to show just how much people with disabilities can achieve if given the opportunity. He says: “I wanted to show that if disabled people have the right investment and equipment to be independent, they can achieve incredible things.”

The expedition was only possible thanks to numerous generous donations from various businesses.  Martyn’s epic journey also attracted support from the National Lottery’s Personal Best scheme, launched after the 2012 London Olympics to inspire people to set themselves new goals.

Learning from Experience

Reflecting on his trip, Martyn says he is now even more aware of how much work is still needed to make Britain a truly disabled friendly place.

“To see how inaccessible many of our buildings, forms of transport and indeed some members of the public were was very eye opening,” recalls Martyn.

“My experience on the trip inspired me to come up with ‘Spend to Mend’, an idea that if we all ‘spend’ some time, or money, we can mend our inaccessible world.”

Find out more about Martyn and the many other things he does on his website -www.martynsibley.com