P3 team tackle wheelchair marathon to raise disability awareness
Local P3 Charity team braved the rain at the end of January to take on a ‘wheelchair marathon’ through Rothwell, Cambridgeshire, completing a challenging 3.5-mile route to highlight the everyday barriers faced by wheelchair users in the UK.
Setting off from Rothwell Market Square, the team navigated Desborough Hill before looping back through the town, all in relentless rain that made an already demanding route even tougher.
A 2025 report by Iceni – a national organisation specialising in property and townscape development – found that an estimated 1,250 households across Cambridgeshire have wheelchair users. Something that is expected to rise to 1,760 by 2045, emphasising the need for accessible spaces within the community. This is not an exception. Across the UK many older cities are faced with physical constraints that make accessibility difficult. Historic design, protected buildings and narrow layouts make upgrades much harder compared with newer planned urban areas; yet while 88 per cent of disabled people report experiencing accessibility barriers at least once a week, it is time to consider accessible alternatives such as step-free routes, upgraded services and public transport access.
What began as a fundraising challenge quickly became an eye-opening experience of what wheelchair users face every day. Features such as drop kerbs, cobblestones, water meter covers and uneven paths turned into major obstacles for the team, forcing participants into the road at times and even causing several falls from wheelchairs. The experience offered a powerful insight into how ‘simple’ journeys can become exhausting, unsafe and unpredictable for wheelchair users, reinforcing the importance of accessibility, awareness and inclusive design in local communities.
Ben Knight, Tenancy Support Worker for P3 Charity and organiser of the wheelchair marathon, said, “It was a tough, funny, genuinely eye-opening experience and a powerful reminder of how challenging ‘simple’ journeys can be for wheelchair users.”
P3 Charity is a national organisation that supports people to make positive change in their lives, helping them become valued, connected members of their communities. Each year, P3 supports more than 81,000 people (including 57,000 in partnership with the NHS), delivering services across 57 local authorities in homelessness prevention, supported housing, mental health recovery and family support. With experience supporting people with physical disabilities or mobility challenges, P3’s Cambridgeshire team was particularly interested in highlighting how physical disabilities can sometimes to be linked to other challenges, such as securing safe, stable housing.
Expanding into Cambridgeshire in 2018, P3 is well-embedded in the local area, supporting people to live independently and providing homelessness services in partnership with residents, community organisations and local councils. Events like these are a powerful reminder of P3’s community presence and commitment to tackling everyday issues people in the local community face.
Local resident, Russ, who took part in the event, said, “The wheelchair awareness event was genuinely the most fun I've had in a while. Constant laughs and banter, coupled with a genuinely eye-opening experience."
Alongside raising awareness, the team were able to fundraise £150 towards P3 Cambridgeshire’s ‘extras pot’, which is a savings pot for additional expenses for things such as events, household goods or, in this case, accessible equipment and adjustments, with all funds going directly towards things that will help make support more comfortable. Most of all, the experience brought the local community together, turning a challenging day into a shared moment of awareness, support and understanding.
To find out more about P3 Charity, the people it supports and how you can get involved, visit p3charity.org