HIVE Portsmouth has secured a new home for Portsmouth’s first dedicated Disability Hub, set to open in Cascades Shopping Centre within weeks. The space will provide practical support, expert advice and hands on access to equipment for the city’s 41,100 residents living with a physical or sensory disability.
Co-produced from day one with disabled people, the Hub has been shaped in partnership with the Portsmouth Disability Advisory Group and other lived experience groups to ensure it reflects what local people say they need most.
At the new Hub, residents will be able to try a wide range of assistive technology, from magnifiers and speech devices to iPads with accessibility tools, with one to one support from trained Digital Champions. The service will also offer guidance for direct payment users, carers and micro providers, as well as a small equipment repair service run in partnership with AJM Healthcare, including for wheelchairs.
Co production partners include Dynamite (a group for young people with a disability or special educational need), the Over 25 Co-production and Social Group, and Portsmouth Carers Centre.
Digital inclusion is a key focus of the Hub, recognising the significant barriers many disabled residents face around device access, confidence and affordability. This work is being funded thanks to a generous grant of £50,000 from CityFibre Community Fund, which aims to address barriers to digital inclusion.
Catherine Ramsay, Deputy Chief Officer at HIVE Portsmouth, said: “Getting the keys to this space is a really proud moment for all of us. Disabled people in Portsmouth have told us what works, what doesn’t, and what they want to see, and their voices have shaped every part of this Hub. We can’t wait to open the doors and start helping people find the tools and support that make everyday life that little bit easier.”
Portsmouth City Council, which works closely with HIVE Portsmouth to support inclusive, community led services across the city, welcomed the announcement of the new Disability Hub.
Cllr Matthew Winnington, Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing, Health and Care, said:
“This is a fantastic step forward for disabled residents in Portsmouth. The Disability Hub reflects exactly what people have told us they need, practical support, accessible technology, and a place where lived experience genuinely shapes services.”
Cllr Chris Attwell, Cabinet Member for Central Services, said:
“Digital inclusion and access to the right equipment are fundamental issues for so many people with disabilities. This Hub brings those solutions into the heart of our city. It shows what’s possible when the council, HIVE Portsmouth and local lived experience groups work together to design support that is truly responsive to people’s needs.”
The news comes as HIVE Portsmouth Community Development Officer Gina Perryman is appointed as the South East Regional Representative on The Wheelchair Collective – the UK’s first national council of wheelchair users led by the Wheelchair Alliance. The Collective brings together representatives from across the country to influence how wheelchair services are designed and delivered, ensuring local lived experience informs national policy, strategy and service improvement.
Gina’s new role means that the priorities and challenges of wheelchair users across Portsmouth and the wider South East will be heard directly at a national level, helping shape improvements to a system many describe as a postcode lottery.
Ven Bob White, HIVE Portsmouth Chair of Trustees said: “The Disability Hub has been developed from the ground up with the people it will serve, and that matters enormously. And with Gina now representing wheelchair users at a national level, Portsmouth’s voice will be heard where decisions are actually made. I’m delighted that HIVE Portsmouth is playing such an active role in driving this change, both locally and nationally.”
