Motability Scheme ambassadors

Will is a World and Paralympic Table Tennis Champion, winning his first world title in 2014. A four-times Paralympian, he has six Paralympic Games medals. In 2024, he will head to his fifth Paralympics as World No. 1 and is once more favourite for gold. Born with arthrogryposis, Will also battled cancer from a young age, eventually beating it in 2000. He started playing table tennis shortly after his recovery and the rest is history!

Will was awarded his MBE in 2017 and in 2022 was named Sports Personality of the Year at the Sussex Sports Awards and was inducted into the Table Tennis England Hall of Fame. Will took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2019 but was forced to withdraw from the competition after sustaining an injury. You may have also seen Will on programmes such as The Pilgrimage, The Last Leg, First Dates, Soccer AM, Loose Women, Celebrity Chase, Sunday Brunch and more.

“The Motability Scheme has helped me for many years as a Paralympian and I have seen it help so many others. It is an incredible honour and means a lot to me to be involved as an Ambassador.”

From overcoming personal tragedy early in life, today Amy is a three-time Paralympian, and a World and European Silver Medallist. Having co-captained the GB Women’s U25 team to become World Champions in Beijing, she then, with her team, made Commonwealth Games history last year. 

Amy wholeheartedly believes in the power of a positive mindset and is on a mission, through her work as a disability and inclusion activist, brand ambassador, model and public speaker to show that if you adopt a growth mindset, you can achieve the impossible. She lives and breathes the mantra to ‘just go for it’ and is determined to blaze a trail and encourage others to do the same. 

Amy is happiest giving back to cancer charities and inclusion projects through her work, however her true claim to fame is featuring in Celebrity Come Dine With Me (spoiler alert, she is far better at wheelchair basketball than cooking!). 

“I am so excited and proud to be an ambassador of such a game-changing Scheme. One that I can authentically say has had the biggest impact on my life, and also the disabled community. Freedom and independence to go out and live life as fully as possible is so important to me, and that underpins everything the Motability Scheme stands for. Plus when things have gone wrong they have saved my bacon many, many (many!) times."

Noah is preparing to take on the 2024 racing season with Team BRIT, a motorsport organisation which has created innovative hand control technology to enable disabled drivers to compete on equal terms with able-bodied drivers.

Three years ago, Noah was on his way towards a career as a motocross freestyler when he misjudged a jump, breaking his back in the fall. The impact of the fall had broken Noah’s spine at T6 and caused his spinal cord to stretch. Noah is now paralysed from the waist down.

At only 19 years old, Noah is one of Team BRIT’s youngest drivers after signing for them in 2023 for his rookie year. Thanks to a partnership with the Motability Scheme, Noah will race and compete in the Britcar Trophy Championship in 2024, driving a BMW M240i with his teammate Asha Silva.

"It’s hard to put into words how grateful I am for the belief and support of the team at the Motability Scheme. It’s the perfect partnership – I have an adapted vehicle which I lease through the Scheme myself using my mobility allowance, and the Motability Scheme is all about getting people out, independent and active – an ethos at the heart of our team."

Recognised as the UK's most influential disabled person by the Shaw Trust, Shani sparks transformative change as a consultant, collaborating with businesses and brands to authentically embrace inclusion and accessibility. Navigating the world as a South Asian woman experiencing disability, her intersectional activism serves as a catalyst for challenging social inequality worldwide through entrepreneurial ventures and founding initiatives like Diversability, the Asian Woman Festival and the Asian Disability Network.

Beyond her TV presence and range of executive and ambassadorial roles, Shani's impact extends to over 250 conferences worldwide, sharing stages with luminaries such as Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“The Motability Scheme has been an absolute game-changer for me, empowering me to lead a more independent life and granting me the freedom I’ve always longed for. As an Ambassador, I couldn’t be more delighted to represent such a brilliant scheme that profoundly impacts the lives of disabled people and their families and friends. ”

Lucy Edwards is a broadcaster, journalist, content creator, speaker and disability activist and is an absolute force to be reckoned with. After losing her full eyesight at only 17 to a rare genetic disease named Incontinentia Pigmenti, Lucy had no one to look up to that was going through the same thing and made it her mission to share her experiences with the world.

Through her infectious personality and her open commentary on life, Lucy has amassed an incredible combined social media following of over 2.8 million. Her global audience has viewed Lucy's content over one billion times and counting and has placed her as one of the leading voices in the diversity, equity and inclusion space worldwide.

“I knew nothing about disability until I became a disabled woman myself. Having that ambassador community, and seeing all walks of life accessing a Motability car is really lovely. If I can give people who are struggling, or just losing their vision, the knowledge to make their life easier in any way, I want to be that resource.”

Paralympian and founder of Unblind Your Mind, Darren gives people in business and education the psychological tools to overcome adversity like a pro. Darren lost all his sight gradually following a diagnosis of cancer in both eyes. His motto “Your eyes are useless unless you use what’s between your ears” was born out of the realisation that whilst he couldn’t regain his sight, he could unblind his mind.

He has earned numerous accolades on and off the sports field, not despite, but because of his blindness, including becoming England’s most capped blind footballer with 157 appearances, an honorary doctorate for outstanding public service, and Amazon bestselling author of Transforming Your Life. Darren is also a TEDx speaker who has spoken to over a quarter of a million delegates across the globe on a wide range of topics around adversity.

“I’m super excited about being a Motability ambassador. For me Motability means I can get to my destination faster and spend less time travelling."

Paula is “mum” to eight children ranging from 9 to 34 years old. Tony came into the Hudgell’s lives at four-months-old as a foster baby and they went on to adopt him at 16-months, after a difficult start to life which meant he had to have both his legs amputated at two years of age. Tony has been a huge inspiration to all of us with his strength and determination for everything in life. In lockdown, Tony learnt to walk on his prosthetics and raised £1.8 million for the Evelina Children's Hospital in London, that saved his life.

Tony and I campaigned for a change in the law for tougher sentencing of child cruelty which was passed through parliament in 2022 named Tonys Law.

Tony won a Pride of Britain award in 2020 for his fundraising and has been awarded a BEM in the Kings New Years honours list. He is the youngest person on record to receive this honour for his fundraising and setting up of a charity to help children affected by any form of abuse to give them a brighter tomorrow.

“Tony and I have been part of the Motability Scheme now for six years and it gives us the flexibility and freedom to travel comfortably and safely. We are truly honoured to become Ambassadors and excited for this opportunity”

James is a dad of two boys who are both autistic and have learning disabilities. For the last eight years he has been sharing insights into his family’s lives online on his award-winning social media page, ‘Stories About Autism’. Initially just wanting to explain a bit more about autism to friends and family, his combined audience has now grown to over 800,000 followers across the world. James shares honestly about the highs and the lows, all the while helping other families feel less alone. 

James uses his platform to advocate for autistic and neurodivergent families and works with charities and corporations, sharing his real-life experiences. More recently he has launched SAA clothing, promoting inclusion and acceptance through fashion.

“The Motability Scheme has been an essential part of our family’s lives for the last ten years. Our car is essential in enabling my boys to access the community and is their safe space when the world can feel a little overwhelming. I’m always recommending the Motability Scheme to other families, so it’s an honour to be an Ambassador for the Scheme too.”

Mark is a former Royal Marines Commando who completed tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was injured in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve 2007 and became the UK’s first triple amputee from the conflict. Since then, he has become a successful author, motivational speaker and Britain’s most successful ever Invictus Games athlete winning 11 medals, four gold, and Spirit of the Games following which he won BBC South West’s Sports Personality of the Year. Prince Harry dubbed him “Britain’s answer to Superman.”

The Amazon film #NoLimits – the Mark Ormrod documentary tells his story up to 2017. In 2020, he was awarded an MBE for services to the Armed Forces and Veteran Community before winning Pride of Britain’s Fundraiser of the Year in 2021 after completing an ultratriathlon that raised over £600k. He is currently working on his second book and has just obtained an open water swimming world record. The father of three is married to Becky and does adaptive CrossFit and Brazilian jiu-jitsu in his spare time.

"I’ve been a customer and fan of the Motability Scheme for over 15 years now and I’m always telling people how great it is, so it’s an honour to now be an Ambassador for the Scheme and to help share its benefits with other potential customers."

Paralympic wheelchair basketball players Robyn from Ayr, Scotland and Laurie from Manchester, England will both be competing at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris. Laurie has already represented Great Britain at three Paralympic Games, while Robyn has two Paralympic Games to her name so far. After meeting on the basketball court in 2015, they became a sporting power couple, and part of the team that took GB to a record finish of second in the world.

Both Robyn and Laurie have grown up with physical disabilities; Robyn was born with arthrogryposis and Laurie contracted a viral infection at 18 months old which resulted in needing to use a wheelchair full-time.

Engaged to be married, the couple welcomed their daughter, Alba in 2023. They are advocates for both the LGBT+ and disability communities and work individually and together, using their unique experiences to deliver engaging talks promoting the importance of equality, resilience, and leadership.

“The Motability Scheme is fantastic and we don’t know where we would be without it. Having a car through Motability has been crucial in helping us achieve our dreams of becoming a professional wheelchair basketball players.”