Going The Whole Nine (Lan)Yards

Robert and Christine Fellows are telling me about the business they have created selling badges on lanyards for people with disabilities. We are sitting in their cosy Dudley house where part of the kitchen worktop has been set up with a printer and cutting tools. As we talk, Robert’s laptop makes the occasional cheery chime, indicating another inquiry coming in via Ebay, where they do most of their trade.

Married since 1963 and now both in their 80s, they have accrued a wealth of experience in the manufacturing and business world, including the successful dolls house business – Dollshouse Mania – still being run by their daughter Louise. A busy life is being followed by a busy retirement where Robert makes full use of the accoutrements of modern technology – from AI to digital letterboxes.  

The Fellows created their lanyard business after Christine started to lose her sight. Robert explains: ‘When she became fully blind two years ago… it did become a source of immense frustration. Living in a world that suddenly felt “invisible” was hard – especially when people in busy shops would constantly walk into her, unaware of her situation.’

Christine also found carrying a white stick to be inconvenient so together they designed a lanyard and badge to tell people she was visually impaired. When passers-by stopped them in the street to ask where Christine had bought her badge, they realised there was a demand for this item and turned their considerable talents to enabling people with disabilities to let those around them know they needed to be treated with extra care and consideration. 

Sight loss, of course, is not the only condition to make life difficult in old age. Hearing loss is another, not to mention diabetes, epilepsy, stroke… These disabilities can sometimes lead to misunderstandings in social situations, especially if they are not immediately apparent. With this in mind, Robert and Christine have gone on to develop a whole range of badges to help.

In designing the badges they settled on a highly visible yellow background with a black font called ‘Impact’ which is clear and easy to read. Inside the badge, which has a plastic weather proof cover, is a folded form for essential details, such as emergency contacts, medication and allergies. They put the badges and lanyards together themselves and post out to customers via a letter box round the corner from where they live. 

The business is run on a non-profit basis and the cost of the badges barely covers materials and post and packaging. The Fellows tell me they don’t want to be bothering the taxman but I suspect good old-fashioned decency is more of a motive.

While Ebay and Etsy cover most of their business, they are also considering advertising on Amazon. And they still pick up sales from people in the street who ask where they have got their badges from!

Do you need a badge? 

Here’s how to buy one:

You can visit the website ebay.co.uk/usr/etruriahouse

All the badges are currently £4.99, including post and packaging. 

The current range is shown below:

Hearing Impaired

Stroke Survivor

Not all disabilities are visible

I am deaf and lip read

Visually Impaired

I have a hidden disability

Severely Sight Impaired

I have Type 2 Diabetes

I have FND (Functional Neurological Disorder)

I have Epilepsy

Each badge comes with a colour-coordinated lanyard chosen with the colour associated with each condition: Blue, for example, goes with hearing impaired, Red for Stroke, Yellow for sight impaired and so on.