Tuppy Owens

I have an honorary doctorate for good works and am a qualified sex therapist (University of London). In 1979, I started the Outsiders Club, for people with physical, sensory and social disabilities to enjoy peer support and friendship and find partners. It is still thriving nationally (and internationally!).

I realised that some disabled people need the support and wisdom of sex workers and, in 2002, created the TLC website for disabled men and women to find responsible sexual services. This website gets a huge number of visitors and is currently being upgraded.

In 2004, with advice from a colleague, I set up the Sexual Health and Disability Alliance for health and social care professionals to support each other with their work with disabled clients so they can enjoy sexual pleasure and love. We meet twice a year in London. Like my other projects, this is unique in the world and members abroad complained they had no meetings. So, I am starting SHADA International to feature all the pioneers in this area from around the world, to allow communication online.

In 2009 I put on a conference on sex and disability at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. It ended dramatically with a demonstration of a sex worker making love to a quadriplegic man's head, and a deafblind man enjoying a striptease. We realised that those attending were those few people who are keen to support disabled people in their sexual lives, and we should try to reach those who were afraid to do so.

In the hope of reaching these sexually reticent professionals, I produced the Sexual Respect Tool Kit which has a training film, posters and advice.

In 2014 I had a book 'Supporting Disabled People with their Sexual Lives' published by Jessica Kingsley. I am now working on a sex education book for disabled people, written by both people with disabilities themselves and those who provide them with sexual services.

In 2015 I received the UNESCO Innovation Award of Sexual Health and Human Rights, was a finalist in the Lifetime Achievement Awards in the Directory of Social Change Awards, and winner of Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Lifestyles Awards!

Me and all my volunteers work totally for free, as we are unfunded, but now I am hoping to find a benefactor who can fund a paid replacement for myself, as I am in my 70s and want to ensure my work will continue.