Access Whatever Online – AWOL App

Foyle Parents and Friends supports people with learning disabilities and their families improving their quality of life supporting them to lead full and meaningful lives.

“Through our Tuned In project, we have been working with a group of service users who identified challenges in their lives for the past number of years. A common challenge was their struggle for independence with the main barrier being access. Anxiety surrounding access to areas across the city meant this was limiting individuals from getting out and enjoying the physical built environment around them.”

“On exploring ways to address this challenge the group decided that some sort of interactive guide would be useful to access areas of the City – (Derry/ Londonderry). Hence the creation of AWOL – Access Whatever Online. An app which uses videos/audio prompts showing our service users how they can access areas providing guidance and advice and on certain areas/ routes. Helping to alleviate social anxiety and reduce the stress of getting about the city.”

Philip Conn, Foyle Parents and Friends Association

At the Techies in Residence showcase event Foyle Parents and Friends Association successfully secured £10,000 of seed funding from Bank Of Ireland to support further development of their AWOL app enabling them to have a fully functional and completed tool supporting people with a disability to move around the city more easily.