Where were you in 2007?

This Disability Pride Month we’re celebrating the incredible people we’ve been honoured to support since 2007, our beautiful community of fundraisers and supporters, and the SpecialEffect team who work to level the playing field for physically disabled people all over the world!

Take a look at some of our team’s stories below: where they were in 2007 when the charity first started compared to where they are today in 2024.

We’d also love you to help us spread the word about SpecialEffect by sharing your own selfies on social media using #2007vs2024 so we can see how our brilliant community has grown and changed over the years!

Ali

In 2007, Ali was juggling work at FOX FM radio station in Oxford with being a Mum to two lovely, lively young boys (aged three & two). She’d most often be found either at her desk in Oxford or climbing through soft play tunnels and all manner of activities, trying to keep two active toddlers entertained and alive!

In 2024, she’s managed to keep her boys alive, and they are now 19 & 20. Phew! She provides Supporter Care to all the wonderful people who choose to fundraise for SpecialEffect and is constantly in awe of what supporters put themselves through – from gaming marathons to endurance challenges to year-round support – when choosing us as their Charity Of The Year. She feels honoured to be able to meet so many inspirational, selfless people. In her out-of-work time, she’s often found doing all manner of DIY, still being a Mum to two not-yet-left-home boys (truth be told, she’s very happy to still have them) and lots of time spent with the most gorgeous step-granddaughter who brings no end of joy (and she’s back to climbing through tunnels and down slides…). She’s also completely cat-mad, like some other members of the SE team!

Baz

In 2007, Baz was a trustee for SpecialEffect and, having known Dr Mick for years, he helped wherever and whenever he could around his day job. He even organised and captained the SpecialEffect cricket team – as you can see in the photo!

In 2024, Baz manages a lot of SpecialEffect’s data (and GDPR), ensuring we can best support our incredible community of fundraisers and supporters, and those we are lucky enough to help with our services.

Bill

In 2007, Bill was working on a campsite helping to look after the animals and grounds. After the season finished, he spent the rest of the year in France before starting to volunteer for SpecialEffect in 2008 on their Roadshow project. He then left the campsite to work full time at the charity.

In 2024, Bill works as SpecialEffect’s Projects Manager. Within this role, he helps with the running and development the projects. Much of his time is currently spent working on our online and digital projects, including the GameAccess, DevKit and Eye Gaze Games websites!

Gemma

In 2007, Gemma was constantly rushed off her feet working as the Head of Corporate Communications for a listed greentech company. She was newly married but living in a different country to her spouse as her work took her from London to Abu Dhabi!

In 2024, Gemma works supporting an amazing charity that’s close to her heart and loves giving something back to her local community. She’s embraced motherhood with her long wished-for child and enjoys making playdates.

Jacob

In 2007, 13 year-old Jacob was living in Warwickshire with his six siblings, mum and stepdad. His thirst for music knew no bounds as he did his best to fill every kilobyte on his 8GB iPod Nano. He was a keen gamer at the weekends, and loved PlayStation games such as Final Fantasy, Ratchet and Clank, and Spyro.

In 2024, Jacob’s passion for gaming has become part of his career as an occupational therapist. He does his best to assist individuals with a physical disability to enjoy games as much as he does, as well as contributing to SpecialEffect’s GameAccess website by creating articles that showcase the accessibility settings found in a wide range of games.

Jo

In 2007, Jo was a single mum raising her beautiful three-year-old girl, a miracle IVF baby. Jo was self-employed at the time, renting a cottage on a farm and working in two part-time jobs, one of which was a hobby-turned-business buying and selling studio ceramics and antiques.

In 2024, Jo has left the farm, is married, and works in her dream job with plenty of variety as the Charity Administrator for the BAFTA-award winning SpecialEffect. She is proud to be overseeing the BubbleBusters Project that provides little desktop robots to children tackling long-term medical isolation.

Liam

In 2007, Liam was in Year 9 and very much going through his gawky teenage years! He went on to study musical theatre at university before joining SpecialEffect.

In 2024, Liam is one of SpecialEffect’s Partnership Managers, making friends and scoring goals at our football events, all in the name of charity.

Maddy

In 2007, Maddy was seven years old and loving life in Year 2 at primary school. Much of her time outside school was filled with learning every word to the High School Musical 2 soundtrack and playing Animal Crossing: Wild Worlds on her pink DS.

In 2024, Maddy is working as SpecialEffect’s Events Fundraiser, ensuring the events on the charity’s calendar run smoothly for all our wonderful supporters! She is proud to say that the lyrics of all three High School Musical soundtracks remain solidly in her memory thanks to her younger self and she is still a lover of the Animal Crossing games. Working at SpecialEffect has meant her gaming catalogue has increased massively and she’s always down to try new suggestions (unless they’re scary!).

Mary

In 2007, Mary had just started her fundraising career and was working alongside some familiar faces at the ACE Centre in Oxford.

In 2024, Mary is the Fundraising and Communications Team Leader and still works alongside a number of colleagues from 2007!

Mick

In 2007, Mick was helping people with complex physical challenges to use technology to help them to access education and communicate. More and more of the people he was helping wanted to play videogames too, so he started SpecialEffect with the aim of finding solutions which would not only help them, but that he could share across the world.

In 2024, Mick feels very proud and privileged to have had the opportunity to create a remarkable team whose achievements never fail to exceed his expectations. None of this would have been possible without the invaluable fundraising support of the games industry and gamers worldwide who, like his team, want everyone to have a chance to join in and play the games they love, too.

Nick

In 2007, Nick was one of the SpecialEffect originals, three stone lighter, a new dad (to Chloe who SpecialEffect helped when she was five) and working alongside Mick, Pam, Baz, Bill and Tom to try and raise a few pennies to start the charity.

In 2024, Nick is still working to try and raise a few pennies with supporters (many of whom have supported from the early days) in order to help as many people as possible through SpecialEffect’s work.

Nomi

In 2007, a 13 year-old Nomi loved animals both real and virtual, whether it was the real ones like this danger noodle at a school fair, or the more electronic variety such as Pokémon or her Nintendogs. We just won’t mention the Tamagotchi, as she never did manage to keep them alive longer than a few weeks.

In 2024, Nomi still loves animals, finally getting a floofy creature of her own, and she clearly still loves Pokémon. All those years of gaming paid off as she now works in the SpecialEffect Service Delivery team as an occupational therapist, helping others to access the games they love.

Paige

In 2007, Paige was 13 years old, living in beautiful Somerset, and had just received her first guitar. Though her love for music and theatre bloomed while she was at school, it took a good three years for her to pick up her guitar and teach herself how to play her first few chords, so in that time you’d most often find her playing Pokémon or Nintendogs… or watching her Mum playing Kingdom Hearts.

In 2024, Paige is physically disabled and immunocompromised and so works as SpecialEffect’s Gaming Community Manager remotely from Scotland! In her role, she manages SpecialEffect’s incredible community of supporters and fundraisers through running fundraising events like GameBlast, and constantly dies to every obstacle possible on our official livestreams, often co-hosted by SpecialEffect Maddy.

Tom

In 2007, Tom was living in Dublin and had just secured his first job in the third sector, working for Children’s Books Ireland as their Events Coordinator. Whenever he came back to the UK, he’d try and help out where he could with getting SpecialEffect off the ground, working with Nick Streeter on some early fundraising and Dr Mick on getting the necessary paperwork sorted, as well as volunteering at the original launch party for the charity, where this photo was taken!

In 2024, Tom is our COO and still helping out with the fundraising and the paperwork… though there’s now a lot more of both to be done as the charity has grown! It’s amazing to see how things have developed over the years, but Dr Mick’s founding principles remain as strong as ever as do many of the amazing friendships that have built-up over the years. Tom feels very lucky to be able to help so many people through the work of SpecialEffect and make a positive difference every day.

Ziggy

In 2007, Ziggy worked as a Broker Ledger Administrator at Capita Insurance Services in Gloucester and stayed there for six years.

In 2024, Ziggy is the Office and Finance Manager at SpecialEffect, part of our amazing and indispensable Ops team. She joined the charity in March 2020.

We hope you’ve enjoyed learning a bit more about our incredible and vibrant team and can’t wait to see your posts!