Furnware designed a skate rig for children with physical disabilities to enjoy skateboarding in a safe and supportive way

Furnware has designed and built a skate frame on wheels for adaptive skateboarding and scootering so children with physical disabilities can enjoy these sports and have a good time in a positive, supportive, and safe way.

It's a project initiated by Ginny Couch, a Paediatric Physiotherapist who actively advocates inclusive activities for tamariki (children) with physical disabilities.

As part of Ginny’s role at the Te Whatu Ora (District Health Board) Hawke’s Bay – Child Development Service, she works alongside children with mobility challenges daily. Five-and-a-half-year-old Rocco, who has Cerebral Palsy, is one of her clients. When she learned that Rocco received a skateboard as a Christmas gift, she started investigating ways to make skateboarding possible, safe, and fun for Rocco and other children like him in the community.

In her research, Ginny found there are special skate rigs designed to make skateboarding accessible for children with physical limitations like Cerebral Palsy. She reached out to her connections in the wider community seeking support to create a similar solution for Rocco and children with special needs.

When acting Furnware CEO Duncan Hope heard about the motivation behind Ginny’s investigation, he knew it was the right cause to support. It fits Furnware’s philosophy of designing and creating innovative furniture solutions for children and supporting positive learning experiences.

“I’m very proud to be a part of this great project. Skateboarding was how I spent my youth, and I still have one now, so when Ginny came to me with the skate rig idea and talked about Rocco, there was only one answer. At Furnware, we have a team of amazing industrial designers and engineers that were able to turn this idea into reality with some help from local suppliers,” says Duncan.

Rocco’s mother, Ashlee, was thrilled at the possibility of Rocco skateboarding and agreed to have him participate in the testing phase of the skate rig build.

“When Ginny first approached us with the idea for a special skate rig, we looked at some videos of similar frames on YouTube. The smile on kids’ faces was the biggest motivation to get us started.

“As school furniture designers who spend a significant amount of time observing children, we wanted to build a solution for Rocco and Ginny that was stronger, safer, and more versatile than the frames we had seen. Ginny was great to work with; her valuable feedback on the early concept helped us refine the design to suit Rocco’s skating ability,” says Shane Inder, Senior Industrial Designer.”

With Rocco and Ginny’s support, Furnware built a custom skate rig that fits around the skater with a harness that helps them to stand on the skateboard or scooter and bungee straps to keep the wheels in place. It’s designed for the skater to feel comfortable and enjoy the sport while someone pushes the frame.

“Roller sports and skateboarding are popular recreational activities, and it is great to expand these opportunities to be inclusive of tamariki with disabilities. It has been great to collaborate with Furnware; they have taken the project to heart, drawing on their design team and local businesses' support to ensure the skate frame is ‘just right’ and fit for purpose. We are very fortunate!” says Ginny.

Rocco’s mum Ashlee is very impressed with the skate rig and looking forward to Rocco enjoying it over the summer. She is very thankful to everyone who has contributed to the project and made Skateboarding possible for Rocco and other kids with disabilities in Hawke’s Bay.

Furnware’s Design and Engineering team handed over the skate rig frame to Rocco & Ginny at the Bay Skate. Furnware thanks local suppliers Industrial Tube manufacturers, Wheels Plus, Fast Trade, Curran Engineering & GTECH.NZ for the incredible support and free components to make the skate rig.