Mapping for mobility

The WheelEasy Foundation
Generous. Determined. Innovative.

Max Burt was in a horrific car crash with a London fire engine and needs a carer to help him with many activities of daily living and uses a powered wheelchair to get around.

He moved to Sydney in 2011 with his Australian wife, Justine, and helps councils with their accessibility planning.

Max is deeply concerned about the impact of social isolation on people with mobility issues and the lack of readily available accessibility information.

“Not being fully integrated into everyday life is something which happens, in varying degrees, to people with mobility impairments,” Max says.

“It’s not only them. It’s also everyone who spends time with them. You all get stuck, give up and stay in; everyone becomes excluded.”

So he decided to do something about it and in 2018 founded a charity, WheelEasy, which produces a web app to promote mobility.

“It brings together access information on everything from beaches to cinemas to cafes and invites people to share what they know.

WheelEasy has grown to cover the whole City of Sydney. And Max has a council grant for people to come together to map their local area in detail and share useful pictures. But this was interrupted by COVID-19 and social distancing.

Westfield Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with the three top finalists per Westfield centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation. The WheelEasy Foundation will use its grant to expand the Mapping March program that was postponed by COVID-19.

For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here