After months of preparation and behind-the-scenes work, we are proud to share that BBC Morning Live has broadcast a powerful and moving report highlighting the stigma, hostility and daily struggles faced by mobility scooter users across the UK.
The piece – which aired on September 30th – followed months of collaboration between the BBC, Surewise, Sharon Hilton, from the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership and Professor Duncan Guest, of Nottingham Trent University.
In the programme, mobility scooter users Dean Brook and Andrea Hill spoke with honesty and bravery about the barriers they face simply trying to live independent lives.
Sharon Hilton also spoke in memory of her best friend Dawn, a mobility scooter user and dedicated campaigner, who tragically passed away last year, but was determined to see mobility scooter users treated with dignity, empathy and respect.
Morning Live reaches an average weekly audience of 1.5 million viewers – meaning this issue has now been brought into homes across the country on a significant scale.
The programme came as a direct result of the Safer Mobility Campaign, launched by Surewise in April 2024, and following our increasing concerns about the deep-rooted social stigma facing mobility scooter users each day.
The popular show, presented by Helen Skelton and Gethin Jones, chose to highlight this growing issue after receiving a news release from Surewise in June. That release urged urgent government action on rising casualties, inadequate infrastructure and the unacceptable hostility faced by mobility scooter users.
Richard Hannan, Director of Surewise, said: “To see this issue spoken about so honestly, in such a carefully presented and sensitive way, was wonderful for us. We care deeply about the safety and wellbeing of mobility scooter users and were horrified to learn of how much verbal and even physical abuse they receive just for trying to live an independent life.
“To hear the presenters – well-respected, household names – present this issue to so many people, that we brought to them, and concur that this situation is shocking, urging viewers to ‘take note’, was incredibly powerful.”
He added: “We are incredibly grateful to Dean, Andrea and to Sharon for telling their stories so openly, so articulately and with such courage. Their voices have made it impossible to ignore the reality of what many mobility scooter users face every single day.”
Viewers heard how Dean is routinely forced to justify his disability to strangers, Andrea is verbally abused on the roads and countless users face blocked pavements, danger at crossings and constant judgement.
As Professor Guest’s research revealed, stigma is now one of the greatest threats to mobility scooter users’ wellbeing – equal to the physical risks of unsafe roads.
We were proud to attend the filming and to see how the story took shape. To watch the final piece go out on national television – and to hear Andrea, Dean and Sharon’s voices carried into homes across the UK – was a landmark moment for the campaign.
The final words of the programme captured the message perfectly:
“We don’t use [mobility scooters] because we’re lazy or we can’t be bothered to walk. We use it because we have to. So please just have a bit of respect for people.” – Dean Brook
“Drivers have to understand the road is not just theirs. There are so many different types of people using the road and we all deserve to be there. The abuse has to stop. 100% it has to stop.” – Andrea Hill
We hope that everyone who saw it will think twice before making assumptions or passing judgement. Instead of hostility, mobility scooter users deserve empathy, respect and safe spaces to get around – just like anyone else.
Their stories remind us that behind every scooter is a person with a story. Together, we must break down this stigma.
