MOTABILITY SCHEME LIVE

By Jason Richards

With the London wheelchair marathon just around the corner for me on the 27^th of April, I know it’s almost time for the first Motability Scheme Live of 2025. The Scheme Live will kick off in Birmingham on May 16^th and 17^th. The NEC is always one of my favourite Motability Scheme Live events as we often get a first glimpse of the new vehicles from Ford that will be joining the scheme in the year. This year is no exception with the new All-Electric Explorer and Capri. Last year we had the demo Explorer, and it generated a lot of excitement around the stand due to its practicality, all-new interior, long range capacity and with it being All-Electric. With the Capri, Puma Gen-E and E-Tourneo Custom joining the Explorer, Mustang Mach-E and Ford hybrid range, the line-up for 2025 is off the chart.

For me 2025 marks a special year. Its 25 years since I first became a Ford ambassador. A quarter of a century later and the horizon looks vastly different to when I first started supporting Ford at the Motability events. Ford was a founding member of the Motability scheme in 1977 to help disabled people, their families and carers get mobile. Since then, Ford have supplied over half a million Motability vehicles, and how those vehicles have evolved. Back in the year of the Millennium when I first started, my car of choice was the Mondeo estate, with its cavernous boot and luxurious interior. I can’t recall how many Mondeos I drove back then but there were certainly several as it became a favourite on the scheme. After a Mondeo I enjoyed the slightly more compact Focus estate, another stalwart of the Motability Scheme. But vehicle design and shape were set to change, and it came for me in the form of the SMAX. An SUV with a sporty feel, but practical load capacity. I remember collecting my very first SMAX and driving from North Yorkshire to Cornwall the same week. It was a load carrying dream and drove so well. As my family grew, so did my vehicles. The Galaxy and the Grand Tourneo Connect were my next vehicles, the extra height allowing me to load the kids bikes into the back so we could share in our family adventures on wheels. Now, 25 years later and I am poised for the electric revolution as the next wave of hybrid and all-electric Fords look set to make their impact on the Motability Scheme.

The other amazing thing as an ambassador is all the people who I have been able to not only help over the years, but some I have also inspired to go on to greater things. Helping people make an informed choice and enabling them to look into their future over the life of the lease to help them select a future ready vehicle is one thing Ford do well through their Motability ambassadors. That alone makes it worthwhile. But every year there are always a small number of people whose lives I can change or enrich. The empathy I can offer on the stand really makes people feel at ease, allowing them to process their needs and choices. The experience I have gained over almost 3 decades with a spinal cord injury allows me to add greater insight into mobility and the freedom a Motability vehicle can deliver. This empathy and experience have on occasions even provided inspiration and hope to people. Some still return years later and reminisce or thank me.

Being independent and maintaining your freedom can be a daunting prospect when you’ve had a change of circumstances or found yourself in the world of disability. However, Ford having a Motability ambassador as part of the team on the stand not only sets us apart, but it allows us to provide more informed advice based on practical experience.

It will be great to see you all at the Motability Scheme Live events on May 16^th and 17^th at the Birmingham NEC as well as August 1^st and 2^nd in Harrogate at the Yorkshire Event Centre. Hopefully it will be an exciting year and I am ready to listen and help.