In conversation with: Pete Donnelly – building innovation through lived experience of disability

In conversation with: Pete Donnelly – building innovation through lived experience of disability

Pete Donnelly doesn’t remember the detail of his accident in the summer of 2006, perhaps a response to the trauma his body undertook when his motorbike hit a lorry, initially paralysing him from the neck down. The loss of independence, that summer day, seemed total.

Over time he steadily pieced his life back together. Wheelchair skills, he rapidly realised, were essential for recovery – and wider social familiarisation. While the disabled community is eye-wateringly diverse, “it’s important to recognise we are not talking about a small group of people, or how we perceive disabled people to look.”

He goes on: “If you start thinking about disability as a type of social structure [then] we can recognise the barriers are what stop people from engaging in any part of life.”

Pete founded The Wheelchair Skills College in 2021 to help pass on every-day skills – from carrying a coffee to getting up and down kerbs. More recently, his Churchill Fellowship helped him fund travel – he’s a passionate explorer – to Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to learn how the disabled community build on their lived experience for greater social impact.

Funding for needed home adaptation equipment in Australia, he discovered, is distributed via a National Disability Insurance Scheme “which brings together various pots of money and gives disabled people more autonomy over how this is spent”.

“If you start thinking about disability as a type of social structure [then] we can recognise the barriers are what stop people from engaging in any part of life.”

In the UK, around 25% of the population, Pete points out, is disabled. If this massive community were given more meaningful control over the products and services they use, an eco-system of creativity and progress would surely thrive.

His Fellowship report, Building Innovation Through Lived Experience of Disability, is essentially a blueprint for overcoming innovation frustration. Let disabled innovators pilot their own path – but support them too while doing it.

Innovation, he says with some frustration, is too often talked about in terms of tech. “But I think we need to promote that ideas we have from our lived experience can be used for social change. I think that’s more effective. If you overly focus on tech, for example, then you’re going to be inhibiting so much potential for development.”

The disabled community has serious spending muscle. “The spending power of the disabled UK community is valued at £274 million a year,” says Pete, despite unfairly higher day-to-day costs.

So, did the Fellowship help him re-set goals for The Wheelchair Skills College? “I need [now] to influence system change from within,” he replies, “building credibility and speaking the same language as decision makers”.

“I feel that the next step for me is to research further into community-based wheelchair skills training to build a more robust evidence case, and I am planning to undertake a PhD to do this.”

“...realising I am part of a global community felt both reassuring and heartening.”

Now living in London, Pete remains an optimist, though he’s also a realist. “I think the [new] government could make some fast changes. I think support organisations could roll out programmes that offer disabled innovators new opportunities very quickly, so we can start talking about innovation in a different way.”

While some disabled innovators may choose to use their ideas to support their local community “and make extra money as a side hustle,” he goes on, “other people will be more market-orientated – there are so many sub-groups”.

He’s undertaken several tough trips, from travelling overland from Bangladesh to the UK using buses, trains and boats to driving to Mongolia as one third of an all-wheelchair user team. Travel experiences have continually tested his resilience, wheelchair skills and other people’s perceptions about what’s possible.

What was his most memorable Fellowship learning experience? Connecting with other innovators he says “and realising I am part of a global community felt both reassuring and heartening. Hearing from people from very different backgrounds at different stages of their innovation journey who were all aiming for different goals gave me an appreciation of how substantial this group is.”

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.

Related

Blogs & conversations

In conversation with: Mark Brookes – shining a spotlight on disability hate crime

We spoke to Churchill Fellow Dr Mark Brookes, advocacy lead at Dimensions, who will soon travel to the USA for his Fellowship, where he will share his insights on hate crime reporting and its connection to learning disabilities. With over 20 years of advocacy experience, Mark emphasises the challenges individuals with learning disabilities face when reporting hate crimes and highlights the significant achievements his work has led to, as well as his hopes for improving hate crime reporting and outcomes for disabled individuals in the UK.

By Mark Brookes,

Blogs & conversations

Supporting a Future Without Violence

Reflecting on the past year, I’m amazed at how quickly I’ve gone from theory to implementation. My Churchill Fellowship journey took me across the USA, where I explored the Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) programme and saw first-hand its potential to address issues like misogyny and violence against women. Now, with a successful pilot in Northern Ireland and plans to train more community advocates, I’m thrilled to see it becoming a catalyst for change.

By Nicole Devlin,

Blogs & conversations

Rethinking Mosque Spaces in Shaping British Muslim Identity

My Fellowship explored how mosque architecture in the UK influences the identity of young British Muslims, focusing on design and diversity. I examined the challenges of blending traditional Islamic architecture with British styles and the impact of mosque politics on community building. Through my research, which involved studying best practices in Canada, South Africa, and the USA, I developed key recommendations with the aim of inspiring a new approach to mosque spaces that reflects a 21st-century Western context.

By Abdullah Geelah,

Blogs & conversations

Adultifying Black Girls

Through my Churchill Fellowship, I explored how Black girls are adultified in state care – from their relationships with parents to social work practices and transitions to independent living. Travelling to the USA and Canada, I engaged with researchers and practitioners, uncovering how adultification affects Black girls and identifying potential solutions. My findings highlight the need to move beyond tick-box approaches in social work and recognise the strengths Black girls develop despite these challenges. I’m now sharing these insights through CPD sessions, campaigns, and my ongoing PhD, with the hope of driving meaningful change for children affected.

By Sylvia Ikomi,

Newsletter Sign Up