Home Business Awards & Achievements Founder of innovative Preston disability charity shortlisted for North West Business Award

Founder of innovative Preston disability charity shortlisted for North West Business Award

Christine Singleton, Skiggle founder

The founder of Preston disability charity, Skiggle has been shortlisted for one of the North West’s most prestigious business awards celebrating female entrepreneurs.

Christine Singleton from Preston has been named as one of six finalists in the ‘Charity’ category of the Enterprise Vision Awards (EVAS). A record number of entries were received for the 10th anniversary year of the popular awards.

Christine has been running the unique specialist disability charity on a voluntary basis since 2016 and registered Skiggle as an official charity two years ago.

It’s the only charity of its kind in the UK and provides vital, often lifesaving, help and support to disabled people, their families, and carers, all over the UK. Skiggle gives people access to disability care products and equipment to ensure they can continue to be cared for at home.


In addition to running the charity, Christine is a busy mum to three children, the eldest of whom, James, 17 is profoundly disabled and needs round the clock care. Born with a brain injury, James lives each day with a host of complex medical challenges and was the inspiration behind Skiggle.

Despite having to spend over a year shielding at home with James, much of the time also apart from her husband and daughters, Christine has continued to grow the charity. In the last 12 months, she has secured much-needed funds to develop new services and support to benefit the UK’s 14 million disabled people.

The Covid pandemic has elevated demand for Skiggle’s services to a whole new level with the disability and special needs community up and down the country facing daily stock shortages and supply chain issues – all threatening the health and wellbeing of loved ones.

She said: “I’m quite overwhelmed to have been selected as a finalist in the EVAS Charity category. It’s an honour just to have been nominated but to be able to stand alongside five other incredible women and charities is beyond anything I could have dreamed of. First and foremost, I am just a mum trying to help people.”

Coral Horn, founder of the EVAS said: “Women have faced huge economic, logistical, and emotional challenges as a result of the pandemic. It’s been an absolute joy to see the resilience and strength of these remarkable entrepreneurs who have adapted and flourished.

“Every nomination and entry deserves a huge round of applause and our judges concur that the high quality of entries made their decisions exceptionally difficult.”

Interviews with each of the category finalists will take place over the next few weeks alongside public voting before the winners will be revealed at a glittering awards ceremony on Friday 24th September at the Blackpool Opera House.

Skiggle was founded in 2016 and became a registered charity in 2019. The innovative charity provides a unique service of operating an emergency SOS system and facilitating an online Marketplace where people across the UK can urgently access specialist disability equipment, care consumables, and other products.