Leonard Lewis has been a Trustee of Chickenshed for over 10 years. Ever since he took a vertical exit from his polo pony in June 1994 and fell into a coma for 18 days, he had become acutely aware of the challenges faced by those with a disability in everyday life.

Leonard says: "Whenever I take my wheelchair out for a spin, I have to remember that it comes with a penalty. The penalty is that other people assume that my IQ has been reduced by 25%. I become a third person. 'Would he like to go to ...?' Chickenshed is unique because whenever I free-wheel in, I lose the feeling that I am different. I am treated just the same as everybody else, but the disadvantage is that I can't pull rank to get to the front of lines at the bar because I am not regarded as being different."

Before Leonard's accident, he founded River Island. Now he fulfils a non-executive function and concentrates on macro investment strategies, and tries to keep out of the way of the executive team who have successfully reinvented the company. When asked to be a Trustee, Leonard feared that he had been approached to be the token disabled person on the board. Within about thirty seconds he realised that Mary [co-founder] had not noticed that Leonard comes with a wheelchair. He says now that he's sure that she was very aware; but that she was also an expert at looking directly into you, and empowering you to exceed your expectations. Which is the core mission statement of Chickenshed.