Hi, I’m Paul. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) at 35. For a while, life carried on almost as normal — until it didn’t. MS has a way of quietly redrawing the map of your life. As my condition progressed, everyday moments became harder, and the world around me felt less built for people like me.
One moment stays with me forever. Liverpool Arena. My daughter’s school science project. A proud dad determined to show up. But on the way back to the car, my legs wouldn’t cooperate. Every step felt like wading through concrete. People passed by. I felt exposed, embarrassed, and heartbreakingly aware that I couldn’t hide what was happening anymore.
That walk — or attempt at one — broke something open in me. Not my confidence. My perspective.
That day taught me something profound: a wheelchair — or any disability or visual impairment — isn’t a limitation. It’s a tool that gives you your life back. That realisation pushed me to embrace new adventures. But when I went looking for accessible experiences, I found almost nothing. Search results were irrelevant, uninspiring, or didn’t exist.
About a year before the pandemic, I started calling around to see what was available for wheelchair users. The answer was always the same: nothing. Virgin Experience Days, Buy A Gift, Trackdays — all kind, all apologetic, but none had anything marked as wheelchair‑friendly, and none had a Disability Team.
Even as someone who’s computer literate, I struggled to find accessible products that could make life easier. What I really needed was one place — one website — offering great experiences, useful products, holidays, and a supportive community.
So, naively perhaps, I decided to build it myself. If nothing existed nationally, why not create it? I started with accessible experiences, and AbleNet.co.uk was born.
Typing “fun things to do” into Google brings up Supercar Experiences. So I picked up the phone and began calling supercar suppliers, asking them to let disabled and visually impaired people drive their cars. Most said no. Some said absolutely not. But I kept going.
On my 120th call — over 12 months — someone answered the phone purely because they happened to be walking past it. He turned out to be a director. After a short conversation, he invited me to their offices. We talked about adaptations, visual impairment, and what true inclusion could look like. He was committed. It took a year to sort insurance, health and safety, and contracts. Then the pandemic hit and delayed everything by two more years.
But we got there.
Today, AbleNet.co.uk is the UK’s largest platform offering tailored experiences for disabled and visually impaired people of all ages. What began with “fun things to do” is growing into a central hub for accessible adventures, support networks and products.
We’ve built incredible partnerships with iFLY, Everyman Driving Experiences, British Skydiving, Cotswold Rallying, UK Skiing, Two Two Fly and more — all offering experiences that can now be booked by anyone, or gifted to someone you care about. A year in, Virgin Experience Days called me, asking AbleNet to become their disability partner. We now also partner with Buy A Gift, Trackdays, WonderDays, and others.
Fast forward to today: AbleNet has blossomed. We’re expanding our range of experiences, partnering with charities like the amazing Spinal Injuries Association, and growing into a holistic resource for disabled and visually impaired people across the UK.
Because life doesn’t stop with a disability or visual impairment — it simply becomes a new kind of adventure. And AbleNet.co.uk exists to make those adventures accessible to everyone.