My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered UK entity and has a London-based address.
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), evidence of access to a lease for the space you are leveraging, and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions.
Yes
First Name
Joshua
Last Name
Palmer
Pronouns
He/Him
Email address
I would like to receive notifications and updates about Go London!, Ashoka, Ashoka Changemakers, and other Ashoka opportunities.
1
Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
No
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
No
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
Lead Organisation Name
Unity App
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2025
Initiative Title
Unity App
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
TBC
Initiative Stage
Pilot-Stage (The first activities have happened, and you have proof of concept)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Business & Social Enterprise
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
To help individuals with all disabilities better navigate the world and better integrate to the world around them
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
Problem: despite legislation for disability-friendly infrastructure in public spaces, many individuals with disabilities (especially more niche or lesser-known conditions) are often excluded due to lack of awareness in the wider world. This can lead to hostile design of public spaces or overstimulation. This results in many affected individuals not participating. As the founders have first-hand experiences with this problem, we are trying to solve it directly
Your approach: How are you/ will you addressing the problem outlined above? How does your solution unlock or reimagine access to spaces for sport and physical activity? What role do landowners, local authorities, or other decision-making stakeholders play in your approach? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
We are developing a mobile app and supplementary physical tools which can help better inform of those more niche disability friendly features and public locations
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
It will encourage those with disabilities (who make up around one quarter of the population) to find more accessible public spaces, incentivising them to engage with the wider community further at locations better equipped to their niche or specific needs
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in unlocking spaces for and access to physical activity and sport so far? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had , and or what impact do you envision having in the future?
Unity will focus on many public locations and services, not only sport and physical activity. The disability demographic is often underrepresented in sport and physical activity as due to barriers to entry, so Unity will be able to help connect affected individuals with those sports clubs or venues that can accomodate for them
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
Overall this area/industry is fragmented. Many other solutions cater to maybe only one or two common disability types, if anything, whereas Unity will focus on all. Also most focus on just recovery or support for the disability, not necessarily helping with outside activities.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your initiative up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
We plan to work with organisations as well as individuals to implement the project. Currently we are starting the project on a small scale at just our University (Middlesex - in Barnet) but plan to expand it to other institutions (educational and more) in London in the future, then further out. Currently we are testing proof of concept. Our plan is to work on developing the idea within our own university ecosystem whilst we are still students. We will build and develop the idea here then once we have gained feedback and developed on improvements we can expand to other universities then elsewhere
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
We have two employees, both the founders. Both of us are sharing responsibilities and assisting each other. However I (Joshua) is focusing more on the research, finance, planning and admin side, whilst Vasiliki is focusing more on communications, marketing and designing
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/to grow.
April 2026 - have a functioning prototype September 2026 - finish Innovation and Entrepreneurship masters degree
Capacity-Building Participation and Support Funding: If you were to make it as a finalist, you will be required to participate in an 8-week capacity building programme. If funding/ cost is a barrier to your participation, we may be able to offer up to 10,000 GBP of grant money available to support you. Please break down below, if it is the case, what costs you would incur and you would need covered. (Please note that there are restrictions on how the grant money may be used; please refer to the T&Cs for further details.
Any relevant costs on developing and implementing the business
If you selected “Other”, please specify below.
Through our university
