Queen honours Bakewell founder of mobility firm

Bakewell man and founder of Autochair David Walker was presented with an OBE for ‘service to people with disabilities’ at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

David was paralysed from the waist down following a car accident in 1975.

In a bid to remain independent, David invented a device to help him load and unload his wheelchair from the car, and established his company Autochair to sell the product to other disabled people.

David said: “Since starting Autochair I realised there were a range of problems for disabled and less mobile people to maintain their mobility.

“My vehicle is my life line and so it was for many of the people I met.

“This resulted in designing other products to help achieve both independent and general mobility.

“It is wonderful after all these years to be recognised in this way and it is testimony to all the hard work of all the staff at Autochair to have received this.”

David was accompanied by his wife Carol, who is chairman of Derbyshire Dales District Council, and his sons Matthew, Nicholas and Jonathan when he received the OBE.

David’s oldest son, Matthew Walker is now managing director of Autochair, which is based in Alfreton.

For more on Autochair, visit the company’s website www.autochair.co.uk