Draft:Roger Jefcoate

• Comment: Unfortunately this article is not quite ready to be published, mainly because it lacks inline citations to reliable sources when it is a biography of a living person. Too many of the sources are primary (e.g. organisations saying he collaborates with them), so you need to find third-party sources to show this information is notable to be included. Otherwise the article is in good shape. JacobTheRox^{(talk | contributions)} 18:31, 12 July 2026 (UTC)

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Roger Michael Jefcoate CBE DL OStJ is a British disability campaigner, philanthropist, inventor and charity founder. He is best known for his contributions to assistive technology and disability services in the United Kingdom. He has been involved in the development of technologies and charities since the 1960s. Jefcoate has helped establish a number of organisations focused on disability support, assistive technology, medical research and assistance dogs.

Career

In 1962, Jefcoate began working with Sir Ludwig Guttmann at the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital which is located near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. During the 1960s and 1970s he participated in the development of technologies designed to increase independence for severally disabled people, including environmental control systems, adaptive wheelchairs and communication aids.

He contributed to the development of the Possum environmental control system, one of the earliest systems enabling disabled users to control household devices and to communicate independently.

Through his work, Jefcoate has been able to transform the lives of many people, including the artist Elizabeth Twistington Higgins.

Charitable work

Jefcoate has founded or co-founded a number of charitable organisations and disability initiates

Among the organisations with which he has been associated:

• Possum Users Association (later the Sequal Trust), established to support people requiring communication and environmental control technology
• Mobility Trust, founded in 1972 to assist disabled people in obtaining powered wheelchairs
• Canine Partners, co-founded in 1990 to train assistance dogs for physically disabled people
• AbilityNet, co-founded in 1997 to promote digital accessibility and assistive technology
• ME Research UK, co-founded in 1999 to fund biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)
• Medical Detection Dogs, co-founded in 2007 to develop the use of dogs in detecting disease

He has also served as patron, vice-patron or trustee of numerous charities including WheelPower, Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, Dog Aid, and other disability and community organisations.

Since the 1980s, Jefcoate has also been responsible for planting the rare native Black Poplar tree species (Populus Nigra Betulifolia) all over the county of Buckinghamshire where he lives and beyond. In 2012 as part of the celebrations for the Queens Diamond Jubilee Jefcoate provided 32 Black Poplar trees, one for each of the London Boroughs. These were subsequently planted across the city.

Roger and Jean Jefcoate Trust

Together with his late wife Jean, Jefcoate established the Disability Aid Fund in 1983, which later became the Roger and Jean Jefcoate Trust. The trust provides grants to local, regional and national charities, particularly those supporting disabled and older people through practical assistance, information services and assistive technology.

Honours and recognition

Jefcoate was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1998 for services to disabled people. He has served as Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of Buckinghamshire. In 2005, he received an honorary doctorate from Buckinghamshire New University. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Buckingham. Jefcoate is an Officer of the Order of Saint John (OStJ) and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Drapers.