Disability Awareness Day (DAD), the largest annual single-day event of its kind, will be taking place virtually for a week this year, 25th-31st October – supported by Driving Mobility.
DAD is a ‘pan disability event which promotes a culture that focuses on what disabled people can-do’. Dave Thompson MBE founded the organising charity Warrington Disability Partnership (WDP) in 1991 and the annual DAD event in 1992. Held in a tented village on the grounds of Walton Hall, Warrington, DAD provides a wide range of features including assistive product displays, workshops, advice and entertainment for disabled adults and children. It has inspired similar events across the world and has been visited several times by members of the Royal family, the Minister for Disabled People and received a Red Arrows flypast. WDP was presented with the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services in 2006 and has raised over £1,000,000 for good causes.
In 2019, the event was supported by 260 exhibitors with over 25,000 visitors attending on the day. The event has run for 28 years and welcomed over 600,000 people however due to the pandemic, the 2020 event will be held online at: https://dadvirtual.org.uk/. This year there will be over 200 virtual exhibitors including Driving Mobility.
The main event will take place on 25th October 2020, followed by video seminars, workshops and events until 31stOctober. Alongside other specialist exhibitors, Driving Mobility will be demonstrating its range of assisted driving and mobility assessment services for all ages. Service users self-refer or are signposted to its 20 Centres from the DVLA, Motability, the Police and healthcare professionals such as GPs and Occupational Therapists. These Centres provide over 70 outreach facilities bringing services closer to where people live. Centres are managed by independent charities or NHS departments – all focused on helping people with disabilities or life changing diagnosis to continue driving safely.
Edward Trewhella, Driving Mobility CEO, comments: “We are delighted to be supporting DAD this year as we believe it is a fantastic initiative to help people with restricted mobility on an international scale. Our stand will include an array of useful information including case studies, videos and a brochure that introduces our services. Visitors will be able to contact us direct to enquire about driving and mobility assessments.”