More Robust Every Day Chair
Donation protected
PLEASE READ FIRST:
Whilst this fundraiser is important to me, it's also very important to me that people don't put themselves out because they want to help.
Working class and marginalised people are struggling so much right now, so please put your own financial situation first.
Whilst I am openly disabled, trans and queer, I also have the huge benefit of being white, which grants me privilege that many people with fundraisers simply do not have.
Please prioritise fundraisers from BIPOC folks, especially those who are trans or queer.
Here's a great Twitter you can follow to find fundraisers:
Trans Actual also routinely shares fundraisers on their social media:
And here is one of my own friends fundraisers, she deserves all the love and support in the world:
Hi!
My name is Felix (he/they), I'm an intersectional human rights activist, writer and speaker. You might have had the [mis]fortune to see me pop up on the TV or radio, at an event, or one of Trans Activism UK's protests.
I am an ambulatory wheelchair user due to long term disabilities, despite exercise my mobility has unfortunately been decreasing rapidly over the last few years, stemming from issues I've had since I was a kid.
After extensive testing in a variety of departments, the best neurologists could come up was a diagnosis of Functional Neurological Disorder (on top of a myriad of other diagnoses I have gained over the years) which does correlate with my also having PTSD.
Around a year ago I bought my first wheelchair through crowdfunding, and the impact it has had on my quality of life is truly mind-blowing. I have never been so independent and functional since having to leave work due to a rapid decline in health, and I cannot express in words the mental and physical benefits I've experienced.
Unfortunately the chair I chose was not so great. It keeps losing bolts, it has made awful noises since day one, the batteries don't perform even 50% of what they should so I have to have multiple charged and on me at all times, it randomly slows down, the turning circle is slow and clumsy.
Recently the controller started getting repeatedly jammed which caused my chair to not stop accelerating, and after looking into the issue it turned out the frame holding the joystick was shattering from the inside, literally spitting out shards of plastic.
I am worried that it is going to end up putting me in serious danger.
A less serious but horrific "feature" of this chair is that when you reverse or have a low battery (which is all the time), it beeps repeatedly (so shrill and loud) and there is no way to turn that off. It draws awful attention in public spaces and is a sensory nightmare.
Whilst having a chair that can fold into a car has had its benefits, it's clear that I need to get to get a more robust chair that can't fold but can do a much better job for my every day outings. I don't like to sit at home, and that means I need something that can support me, safely giving me the independence I need.
I currently receive the lowest possible PIP reward you can get, despite the fact that I literally cannot walk more than a few metres outside the house. I've been fighting this for years and will hopefully have another tribunal before the year is out, but there is no guarantee I will come out from it better off.
Because of this, there's no guarantee I will be able to get on to the motability scheme, which allows you to sacrifice a portion of your benefit to essentially "rent" a wheelchair. So my safest bet is to save and fundraise to own one.
At the moment the goal for this fundraiser sits at £5000 which is a ballpark figure for my dream chair, but I am going to be trying to go to some showrooms, getting demos from companies, etc. to get a more price figure (hopefully lower!) and I'll provide updates when I know exactly what I want to get and how much it'll cost.
At this moment, my dream chair is the Quantum Edge 3 Stretto, which is custom fitted to your body and requirements. But! The price can go up from like £5k to over £20k depending on your needs and optional extras.
Another option is basically a stripped back version of that chair, which is the Pride Jazzy Air 2, which is usually listed for under £5k. It isn't fit to your body but is supposed to also be a great chair, it comes with the lift and had adjustable sides.
Quantum Edge 3 Stretto:
Pride Jazzy Air 2:
Organizer
Felix Fern
Organizer
England