Presenter Ade Adepitan challenges people to spend a week in a wheelchair

TV presenter Ade Adepitan has challenged people to spend a week blindfolded or in a wheelchair to experience the accessibility issues faced by disabled people.

The wheelchair basketball Paralympian told Metro that not enough progress has been made to make transport, housing and other key infrastructure accessible.

He warned that most disabled people are being denied the opportunity to get into sports because of a lack of resources and support.

Ade told Metro: ‘Disabled people are still very much marginalised in the UK.

‘You are losing so much talent. It stops people with disabilities playing a big part in society.

‘It is shocking that so many people are being neglected by society and not given the same access or opportunities.’

Speaking as he is announced as the host of the 2026 Scope Awards, run by disability charity Scope with Metro as the official media partner, Ade called on non-disabled people to experience what it was like to live with accessibility issues in modern Britain.

The athlete, who lost the use of left leg after contracting polio as a child, said understanding the challenges faced by disabled people would make it more likley they are included in planning decisions.

Ade said: ‘All I have to say is spend a week in a wheelchair, or spend a week blindfolded, and tell me what you make of life.

‘You will probably feel like you are living in a country that has just come out of a war.’

As an example of barriers affecting disabled people, the presenter said he recently interviewed a doctor who had become blind.

The doctor described being forced to walk on the road with his children because of cars blocking the pavements.

Ade said this thoughtlessness towards disabled people had put the doctor’s life at risk as well as his children’s just to complete the school run.

According to a November 2024 survey from the National Centre for Accessible Transport, more than 90 per cent of disabled people face barriers when using at least one mode of transport.

Disabled people make 38 per cent fewer journeys using transport than non-disabled people – a figure that had not changed in ten years.

‘Change starts from the bottom up,’ Ade added.

‘The only way we are going to make change is if we come together as communities.’

‘We also need leadership which is inclusive of disabled people. We are the most incredible problem solvers.’

Born in Nigeria, Ade and his mother moved to the UK at the age of three to join his father in East London.

There he began playing wheelchair basketball and soon became a member of Team GB.

With the team he won at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and gold at the Paralympic World Cup in 2005, the year he was also awarded an MBE for services to disability sport.

From there, he launched a career as a commentator and became one of the main presenters for Channel 4’s coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Ade says that many disabled people are being denied the chance to get into sports like he did because of a lack of resources and basic support.

He explained: ‘I am in a fortunate and privileged position. I have access to sport in ways that many non-disabled people wouldn’t have.

‘Schools are still not equipped to give disabled people opportunities, but schools are where a lot of people’s passion for sport begins.

‘But being able to do these leisure activities is a luxury.

‘Only when you feel financially secure, physically secure, and emotionally secure – then you can start looking for a sports club.

‘But if you haven’t got all of those other aspects of your life sorted, which many disabled people won’t, then how do they even begin to take part in the first place.

‘People say to me, “How can I go out and play basketball when I can’t even get a job?”’

According to Sport England, disabled people are almost twice as likely to be physically inactive compared to people without a disability.

Ade will host the 2026 Scope Awards at the Kia Oval in April.

He said: ‘To be hosting the awards is an honour.

To have awards that celebrate disabled people who are doing amazing things, it is crucial.

‘It is even more important that the people without disabilities hear these stories.’

The full shortlist of nominations for the Scope Awards will be announced later in February and available on the Scope website.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Comments Add as preferred source