The Motability Foundation at Warwick House in Harlow will fund its Bespoke Passenger Solutions grant until March 2029. It has made 475 awards averaging £31,500.
The charity that runs the Motability Scheme from an office in Harlow will keep funding its largest individual vehicle grant for another three years, and has now put more than £15 million into specially adapted vans for disabled passengers.
The Motability Foundation, which has its individual grants operation at Warwick House in Harlow, CM19 5PX, told us this week it has extended its Bespoke Passenger Solutions grant, known as BPS, beyond the end of this year. Its own grant page now states that the programme is funded until March 2029.
The grant is not for an ordinary car. It pays the Advance Payment on a large wheelchair accessible vehicle fitted out for personal care: a ceiling hoist, an adult sized changing surface, darkened rear windows and a curtain between the passenger area and the cab so that care can be given in private, plus storage for continence or medical supplies. The charity says these are built on van sized vehicles such as a Volkswagen Crafter, a Peugeot Boxer or a Renault Master, are about two metres wide, over two metres high, and run from four to six metres long.
Since the programme started in 2022 the foundation has made 475 grants, with an average award of more than £31,500.
“We couldn’t have afforded to purchase this without the help of this grant”
The foundation set out the case of one family it has funded. Tyler Dervish, 20, lives in Norfolk with his mum and dad, Teresa and Warren. Two years ago they received a BPS grant for a specially adapted Volkswagen Crafter.
Tyler was born with spastic quadriplegic Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease and cannot walk or sit unaided. Before the grant, the foundation says, travelling was distressing for him.
Speaking this week, Teresa said: “We are all so grateful for this and honestly can’t express how much of a difference having this vehicle has made to our family. We couldn’t have afforded to purchase this without the help of this grant.
“Tyler is so much more comfortable now whilst travelling, thanks to the hoist and rock and roll chair. He knows if he needs to have a stretch, we can stop and do so, which we have done on numerous occasions.”
The family have nicknamed the Crafter “The Beast” because of its size. Teresa said it can take all of Tyler’s equipment as well as their two small dogs, and they planned to take it to the Isle of Wight this month.
Tyler is interested in history, the wars and tanks, and the family often make trips to museums. He also boxes twice a week at the Able2b gym, which the foundation says is run by an orthopaedic surgeon and former boxer. His condition is progressive, and his family say the gym’s facilities and classes have helped him a great deal.
Teresa added: “He still attends his boxing gym twice a week which he loves and gets so much out of it, again thanks to him being so much more comfortable in The Beast he is so happy to still do this.”
What the charity’s evaluation found
The decision to carry on funding follows an evaluation the foundation commissioned on the difference the grant makes. It drew on 166 survey responses from people who had received a BPS vehicle and their families and carers, five in-depth case studies and individual interviews.
Comparing how people answered before and after they got the vehicle, the foundation reports a 56 per cent improvement in social connections, a 50 per cent improvement in wellbeing and a 23 per cent positive difference in getting to health appointments. Among carers, it says 83 per cent reported improved life satisfaction and 79 per cent described the change as significant or life-changing.
Helen Rose, the foundation’s Grant Programme Manager, said: “For disabled people with multiple and profound care needs, having the right facilities inside a vehicle can make a significant difference to everyday life.
“That’s why we’re delighted to be able to continue with our BPS grant programme. The evaluation has demonstrated the positive and life changing impact BPS has on both disabled passengers and their carers, making their journeys and personal care easier to manage.”
The foundation says it set the programme up to close a gap it identified in 2019, for disabled people whose needs go beyond simply getting in and out of a wheelchair accessible vehicle. Before BPS, it says, families faced limited space, manual handling difficulties and vehicles that could not safely carry medical, mobility or personal care equipment, so travel was possible but came with higher risk, more effort and more stress.
What it means for you
The grant is open across the UK, so a Harlow family in the same position applies on the same terms as the family in this story. You can apply if you are a disabled person on the Motability Scheme, or applying to join it, or you are the appointee for one, and you are not planning to change your wheelchair in the next 12 months.
Beyond that, the charity’s published criteria say you need the vehicle to be essential for one of the following: an average of two or more ongoing medical or respite appointments a month with no suitable alternative transport; travel to a school, college or day centre for an average of 12 hours a week or more; a volunteering role of 12 hours a week or more, evidenced for at least six months; or a place of work for 12 hours a week or more. Applications outside those categories are considered in exceptional circumstances.
Every application is means tested, and the foundation may ask you to pay something towards the cost if you can. If you want a more expensive vehicle than the one you are assessed for, its policy caps the voluntary top-up at £750 or half the Advance Payment grant, whichever is lower. New vehicles are leased over five years and nearly new ones over three. You must not order a vehicle before the application is decided, and joining the Motability Scheme at all requires one of the qualifying benefits, including the enhanced rate mobility component of Personal Independence Payment or the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance.
The full criteria and the application route are on the foundation’s Bespoke Passenger Solutions page. Its individual grants line is 0800 500 3186, open 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and its Harlow reception number is 01279 635999, both published on its own contact page.
Motability is a registered charity in England and Wales, number 299745, and in Scotland, number SC050642. The Motability Scheme itself is operated by Motability Operations Limited under contract to the charity.
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