I was delighted when I heard about the first Mobility Roadshow back in 1983 and was even more impressed at the organisation that went into it: shuttle buses from the car park to the main area and all those accessible toilets (almost unheard of then).

In those days, I was 'the face' of Motability and my photograph was used on the charity collecting boxes and leaflets - which I seem to recall were available in abundance at the show.

I thoroughly enjoyed driving something sleek and expensive at speed round the TRL banked circuit that year (the track was empty and the accompanying driver happy to let me really try the car properly). After the first year, stringent speed limits were put in place because of the number of novice drivers on the track, so I never had the opportunity again!

I attended nearly all the Bracknell-based Roadshows in the early years and in 1987 came across the RoSPA stand. I went out with them for a driving assessment and they immediately sent me out with an examiner - I obtained a Gold certificate.

Someone at the show even managed to track down Rolf Harris (who was visiting the show) and persuaded him to present me with my certificate. I repeated this qualification a couple of times, but eventually gave up because in those days the insurance cost reductions associated with the Gold RoSPA qualification were not available to disabled drivers. This kind of discrimination by insurance companies would not be tolerated today. 

Of all the products I found at the Mobility Roadshow, by far the most useful was probably the most simple - GreenTyres. These meant that I could happily say goodbye to endless punctures in my wheelchair tyres, and better still, the very helpful people on the stall would fit the replacements for me each year.

www.mobilityroadshow.co.uk