Oxfordshire Advanced Skills apprentices showcase their skills in Emma Wiggs Challenge
Apprentices from the Oxfordshire Advanced Skills (OAS) training centre near Abingdon have taken part in a competition launched by double paralympic champion Emma Wiggs MBE.
They were tasked with finding solutions to everyday tasks which someone with a disability might find challenging and Emma was one of the judges who asses the entries.
The winner was the low level pull cord assistance device (LLPCAD), which was designed by Owen Mayers, to tackle the critical safety issue of unreliable and inaccessible emergency pull cords in disabled toilets.
A highly commended finalist was the Scooter Buddy, which was designed by the team of Ryan Budd, Matt Chambers and Ben Hibberd. This innovative device enables someone to attach their active wheelchair to a common hire scooter available on the street quickly and securely without any help.
The finalists will spend a day with Emma at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham where they will get a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility and try some water-based activities.
"The results have been amazing," said Emma.
"The aim of this challenge was to inspire the apprentices at OAS to create new design concepts to help people with disabilities in their everyday lives, and I have been blown away by their innovative solutions.
"It’s been wonderful to see the sensitivity with which they have approached the task, from the care taken to identify the challenges and then applying their engineering minds to come up with these fantastic, innovative, and workable solutions."
Emma Johnstone, operations manager at OAS, said: "I’m so proud of our apprentices, and how they have taken up this challenge. Producing their designs has required a lot of additional time and effort, beyond their regular busy training schedule.
She added: "The quality of the design ideas that our learners have come up with is impressive for first year Level 3 apprentices and is yet another great example of the value of apprenticeships."
Since a mystery virus impaired mobility in her legs aged 18, Emma has dedicated herself to sport and is now a 10-time world champion paracanoeist and double paralympic champion, winning gold medals at the Rio and Tokyo Paralympics.
She previously tasked OAS’s training provider, the Manufacturing Technology Centre, to design a bespoke canoe paddle which helped her achieve gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Located at the Culham science centre near Abingdon, OAS is a partnership between the UK atomic energy authority and the science and technology facilities council.
