Oliver hails Wheeltop project

Yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur and BT chairman Sir Mike Rake have been given a first-hand demonstration of the life-changing capabilities of the Wheeltop - a wheelchair-based laptop computer developed through a project partnership between the charity Scope and BT.

The two were attending BT’s principal research centre at Adastral Park in Suffolk accompanied by political and business leaders from BT’s committee for responsible and sustainable business (CRSB).

Here, they met up with Oliver Refuerzo, a student at Scope’s Beaumont College and an avid user of the Wheeltop system, together with Scope technologist Liz Howarth and Scope support worker, Ian Wood.

Oliver, who has cerebral palsy, made it absolutely clear just how much his Wheeltop device had changed his life by giving him the ability to communicate - effectively liberating him.

Asked by BT’s global ambassador for corporate social responsibility Dame Ellen: “On a scale of one to ten, how much has this equipment improved the quality of your life?”, Oliver replied: “Ten.”

Oliver went on to explain how his Wheeltop equipment enables him to do things such as listen to music via MP3s, send e-mails and to keep his own blog updated. Indeed, Oliver is well known at Beaumont College as being such an enthusiastic user of the Wheeltop solution that network reports from the college reveal that some weeks he uses up to 30 per cent of the bandwidth used by the entire college of 76 students and 300 staff.

“Oliver’s demonstration was extremely engaging and emotional,” said Adam Oliver, head of corporate social responsibility and age & disability research who runs the project along with BT's head of BT charity programmes, Beth Courtier. “He captivated his audience. He made it absolutely clear just how important the Wheeltop project is and showed the tangible impact being made by BT’s collaboration with Scope.”

Adam added: "it was great to be able to share this with Sir Mike and the team as they have been key in the support of this three year project."

You can read more about the Wheeltop project here.