World’s biggest disability app helps secure legacy of Leicestershire dementia charity

The award-winning Snowball Community app, which has been dubbed the ‘Trip Advisor' for disabled people, has joined forces with the ex-CEO of Leicestershire-based specialist dementia holiday organisation, MindforYou, to ensure that valuable data collected by the charity will be put to practical use by a wider audience.

The Snowball app helps people find out about the facilities and accessibility of venues across the UK and abroad. Users can access information such as the locations of disabled toilets, the proximity of available car-parking to the places they wish to visit, and whether or not a location is wheelchair-friendly. They can also upload their own reviews and rate venues and facilities using a red, amber and green traffic light system. Simon Samsone, who is the founder of Snowball, says he is excited to have been able to include the data collected by MindforYou.

“The information collected by MindforYou is really valuable for people living with dementia and their families and will help users of the app more easily find dementia-friendly venues,” he said. “I’m thrilled to have been able to help put the data to good use and grateful to Dr. Carol Sargent for arranging for it to be available to us at Snowball.”

MindforYou was set up in 2016 by former research scientist and dementia holiday expert, Dr Carol Sargent, to provide fully-supported specialist holidays in the UK for people living with dementia and their unpaid family carers.

In its lifetime, the charity took more than 1,600 people on holiday and collected invaluable information about the inclusivity of UK hospitality venues and attractions. The organisation closed down in 2023 but Dr Sargent says she is delighted that the data collected over a number of years will continue to be useful to the dementia community.

“Snowball is a wonderfully useful app for anyone living with either a visible or invisible disability,” said Carol. “I’m really pleased the data we collected can now be accessed by anyone living with dementia in such an inclusive way, continuing the legacy and mission of the charity to help people live well for longer. I’m grateful to Simon for keeping the MindforYou information alive by incorporating it into the Snowball community app and excited to see it develop in such a positive way.”

Simon Samsone says it is very rewarding to see the increasingly broad audience the Snowball Community app is now reaching. There are big plans for the app this year with it predicted to generate 100,000 reviews in the next year and launching a service where businesses can subscribe (starting from £250 for a year) and be assessed and ranked around their accessibility.

“The simple fact is that the more robust information we can feed into the app, the more it can be useful to the people who are using it," Simon said.

"Users can find out about shops, hospitality venues, attractions and more from Snowball, putting them in the best possible position before they’ve even left the house to not be hampered by inaccessible venues or badly thought-out attractions. Its reach is global and we’re really excited about the difference it’s making and the potential for it in the future.”

Simon became disabled in 2014 and on his first visit to a local restaurant found he struggled to get into the venue and was unable to use the toilets. This experience led to him starting to review venues around their accessibility. Years later that early experience led to the creation of the Snowball Community App.

The app is the biggest disability app in the world and has won many awards for its innovation. In 2023 it won the National Santander X Award for Best New Business, as well as the Shaw Trust Digital and Tech Award at the Disability Power 100. It can be downloaded onto any Apple or Android device and is constantly being updated with real-time reviews of venues in the UK and abroad.

The Snowball Community app can be downloaded here:

Apple https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/snowball-community/id1624679548

Android https://play.google.com/store/search?q=snowball+community&c=apps&hl=en&gl=US

• Photograph shows Simon Sansome with Dr Carol Sargent, who now runs Sargent Group Consulting.