Foyle students make final

STUDENTS from Foyle and Londonderry College have for the second year secured a place on the finals shortlist of a national competition with their bright ideas to help improve the lives of young disabled people.

They now have a chance to win the 12 to 16 years' category and eventually become the outright winner of the competition.

In its sixth year, the Ready Willing & Mobile competition organised by the Mobility Roadshow seeks concepts from young people - both disabled and non-disabled aged 7 to 16 years - that will help others with disabilities to be more independent and join in more at home, at school and at play.

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Kathryn Baldrick's bright idea, inspired by her Grandmother who has arthritis, is 'The Food Slicer' to help people with the condition to cut and slice food.

Matthew McClelland and Stephen Mills teamed up to devise an 'Electric Step-Ladder' concept to help people of small stature access to items out of their reach. Nathan Millard and Harry McElwee's idea, dedicated to a friend with Epilepsy, is a pair of spectacles named 'Flash', designed to enable people with Epilepsy to avoid flashing images on television and in films, thus helping them to be more inclusive. Another team - Shannon McCallion and Courtney Hughes have come up with 'The Syllabifacator', a word-processor concept to help dyslexic people to improve their language skills. All the students are 12 years old.

The winners and runners-up will be announced and prizes presented at the Mobility Roadshow 2010 at the East of England Showground, Peterborough on National Young Disabled Persons' Day, Saturday 3 July.

Prizes for the outright winner include: for their school or club 1,000 cash towards equipment or projects, 250-worth of STAEDTLER art and crafts materials and 100-worth of Penguin Books. For themselves they win an overnight stay for four at a Holiday Inn in London with a trip on the London Eye. Each of the two category winners receives a digital camera, 50-worth of Penguin Books and a VIP visit to the Mobility Roadshow 2010. There are Penguin Books for two age category runners up.

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The competition has been widely applauded by teachers as an ideal project for team building and classroom discussion, which is how the school approached the competition.

Jacqui Jones, Executive Director, Mobility Choice, the charity that organises the Mobility Roadshow said: "We are delighted with the enthusiastic response from schools right across the UK and continue to be amazed at the creative energy and thoughtfulness of young people whose willingness to help is sometimes underestimated."

The Mobility Roadshow is the UK's premier mobility and independent lifestyle event, leading mobility innovation since 1983. The Ready Willing & Mobile competition is supported by Aspire, Go Kids Go!, Holiday Inn, Penguin Books, Phab Kids, the Royal College of Art and Stadtler.

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