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‘‘To cope with demand, the LimbBo Foundation now owns three 3D printers and Adam and Katie’s garage at their Royston home has been partly transformed into a printing workshop with reams of colourful plastic thread which is spun through the printer ’’


their arm to grip, some may have never picked things up before.”


Just over a year later and, as Buzz would


say, their custom products have gone to infinity and beyond, helping almost 100 children across the world in the likes of Belgium, New Zealand and America. To cope with demand, the LimbBo Foundation now owns three 3D printers and Adam and Katie’s garage at their Royston home has been partly transformed into a printing workshop with reams of colourful plastic thread which is spun through the printer to make the many different components of the arm. Tying in with their motto of ‘limb difference with a smile’ the workshop’s walls are also covered in the beaming grins of the recipients of those arms, each proudly showing off their bright and bold designs personal to them. From superheroes to football, unicorns to favourite cartoon characters, Adam can adapt the basic template to any colour combination or design of a child’s choice from their own measurements to ensure a perfect fit – until they go through a growth spurt.


“The Unlimbited Arm looks so good that we get responses saying they now feel like the cool kids in school ‘cos everyone is so amazed by the design. We’ve even had hand-written letters sent in from the older kids who can now hold a pen in their hand.”


The arms take around a day to print and assemble and cost just £25 in materials, with Adam putting in the hours of free labour for the


pure goodwill of seeing another child happy. They also receive a matching gift or toy to go with their new arm.


Plus, there is no cost to parents, with all


LimbBo Foundation products donated by the team. With a book full of orders to complete, Adam can often be found in the workshop in the early hours after finishing his full-time role at Sheffield Arena, swapping large-scale stage production for fiddly finger attachment.


“There’s been many a time Katie has come down to go to work or take the kids to school and I’ve still been sat there finishing orders or trying to fix one of the printers that has decided to go down.”


Along with the Unlimbited Arm, the LimbBo


Foundation is the UK’s only producer of custom- built bike cups which again are 3D printed to help adapt bicycles for limb-different children. “A bike is really hard to steer one-handed and you’ll find kids wobble a lot or can’t balance so I designed these cups that attach to the handle that their ‘little arm’ can fit into. We can also change the brakes to a single mechanism so they can work it using their other arm.” Providing stabilisers and helmets, the complete LimbBo bikes cost around £300 in total and are kindly delivered for free by local fixture and fittings distributor, BAPP.


Production costs are mainly covered by fundraising and donations such as the British Press Photographers Association in London which this year raised £4,000 from a raffle which has funded most of the current year. They were also the chosen charity for this year’s Barnsley Live!


While their creations help bring a new dimension to these brave kids who have not had the easiest start in life, Adam and Katie also wanted to give the families around them better support than they received in the early stages of diagnosis.


They organise regular adventure days across the country, from arena shows to trips to soft play areas, where limb-difference families can meet up, the kids can play and the parents can chat


6 aroundtownmagazine.co.uk


and realise they are not alone. With the help of ex-teacher Jane, they have also written a book for limb-different children about acceptance with the main character modelled on Tommy which was illustrated by local Y10 pupils. There are also plans for a comic book line.


Adam and Katie are also working with the


guys at Team Unlimbited to deliver more in- hospital support and more modern, factual and colourful pamphlets for parents facing a similar situation to themselves.


Thanks to their unrivalled commitment to limb- difference children across the world, the LimbBo Foundation was recently awarded a Proud of Barnsley Award for Exceptional Achievement. As for family life, Tommy, who turns five on 1st August, is now at school and has started swimming lessons. He is also a loving big brother to sister Layla, with the siblings alternating between hugging and wrestling as we meet the family at their home. Bubbly and cheeky with a bright smile,


Tommy is a courageous little boy who doesn’t let anything stand in his way – especially not building LEGO which he was busy doing with mum Katie when we visited.


“When he first started showing an interest in LEGO we thought he’d struggle and he did get upset a couple of times but now he builds a new set in no time – ironically without the help of his assistive device which he really doesn’t like wearing these days.” As he grows up, Tommy would love to be a fireman, footballer or a drummer like Def Leppard’s Rick Allen and asked his parents for his first drum kit last Christmas.


“I was wracking my brains on Christmas Eve for a solution to Tommy holding the drumstick and I ended up somehow designing a 3D printed adapter which is the first of its kind. We’ve also designed the camera buddy which helps left- handed limb different children use a right-sided camera shutter. “For us, it’s just about thinking outside of the box to let these kids have as normal a life as possible.”


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