The Wheelchair Alliance is evolving to strengthen the voice of wheelchair users and drive lasting, positive change across wheelchair provision.
As part of this development, the current Wheelchair Alliance Advisory Board has recently transitioned to become a new Think Tank, bringing together specialist knowledge, lived experience and sector insight to help shape our future work.
This change follows rapid development of the Alliance since launch in 2016. It became a community interest company (CIC) in November 2021, with Nick Goldup appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Karen Pearce as Chair in 2024.
The launch of The Wheelchair Collective – the UK’s first national advisory board of wheelchair users – followed in May 2026, providing a clear route for wheelchair users from across the UK to share the issues, experiences and priorities that matter most.
Made up of ten regional representatives and a Chair, the collective voice of young children in the UK will also be represented by our partner, Whizz Kidz. Together they will help ensure wheelchair users are listened to and that their views remain at the heart of the Alliance’s decisions.
The Chair of The Wheelchair Collective, Damian Joseph Bridgeman, will also sit on the Think Tank, ensuring that this collective voice directly informs discussions about policy, research, services and innovation.
Commenting on the change from Advisory Board to Think Tank, Karen Pearce, Chair of the Alliance, said: “By bringing together subject matter experts from across wheelchair services, commissioning, clinical practice, research, data, manufacturing, charities and wider policy, the Think Tank will provide evidence-informed advice to the CIC Board, helping us understand complex challenges and identify practical solutions that support better access, quality and equity for wheelchair users.
“For wheelchair users, commissioners and providers, this is about building a stronger, clearer and more effective Alliance. It means lived experience, professional expertise and real-world evidence will work side by side.
“The transition to a Think Tank will also help to future-proof the organisation, ensuring the Alliance remains independent, collaborative and focused on its mission of improving wheelchair provision so that every wheelchair user can access the right chair, at the right time, right now.”
