Helen Dolphin MBE
Motoring advocate, entrepreneur, presenter
Helen is an expert on accessible parking and Blue Badges. She is the founder of People’s Parking and runs a consultancy working with mobility businesses to make it easier for disabled people to get around in public spaces.
Helen became disabled aged 22 when she became a quadruple amputee due to meningitis. She found driving a huge part of her recovery process. She says: “When I lost my limbs, I never thought I’d be able to drive again. However, with a few adaptations it was a reasonably simple process and I wish I had investigated getting back to driving a lot sooner. I’m now passionate at ensuring young disabled people know about all the driving options available to them.”
Helen worked as a news reporter for ITV for over seven years, before moving to a charity for disabled people. She is a widely-recognised sector expert on accessible driving and public transport, who has contributed articles to numerous disability and transport organisations. She was Scope’s motoring correspondent with a monthly column which ran for 14 years.
To increase her impact even further, Helen studied law part-time while working, gaining a first-class degree, and has worked as a Consultant Paralegal, representing people who have faced discrimination.
In 2015 Helen was awarded an MBE for her services to disabled motorists. The same year she set up Helen Dolphin Consultancy which helps businesses to understand the disability market. Since 2016 Helen has also been the Director of People’s Parking Ltd, an accreditation scheme for car parks aimed at improving accessibility, ensuring disabled motorists and passengers’ needs are met.
Helen is also a member of the Consumer Panel of the Civil Aviation Authority, a Member of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) which advises the government, Chair of East Anglian Driveability and Chair of the Joint Committee for the mobility of disabled people (JCMD). She is also a member of the British Science Association’s Equality and Diversity Advisory Group.