A HATCH Warren woman who lives with multiple sclerosis (MS) is helping other people with the cost of living with a disability.

In 2003 Georgina Colman was diagnosed with MS, but it wasn’t until 2018 when her mobility began to decline, and she truly recognised herself as disabled.

Since then, Georgina has experienced first-hand the financial strain of living with a disability – from investing in holistic therapies and supplements to acquiring assisted technologies and mobility aids the ‘costs quicky added up’.

Her body’s intolerance to cold weather also led to higher heating bills – further increasing her monthly costs.

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Georgina Colman has launched Purpl, a discount website for the disabled community (Image: Contributed) Georgina said: “One day, while shopping, I noticed discounts available for students, carers, and emergency service workers, but nothing for the disabled community.

“It became clear to me that there was a gap in the market. In that moment, I realised that everything happens for a reason, and this was meant to be part of my journey.”

She then began to create a discount programme for the disabled community which could ‘actually make a real difference and help offset those unfair additional costs through discounts on everyday products and services’.

Purpl was then born in July, bringing together discounts and brands including Hoover, Menkind, Poundland, The Fragrance Shop, Marks Electrical, Rotary Watches and Pavers.

Georgina said: “Purpl is more than just a discount website, it's about bringing the disabled community together in one place to find advice, get offers from brands, support disabled charities, and in time establish the future Purpl Foundation to offer grants to those who need additional financial support, my goal is to create a tangible, positive difference to the lives of those within the disabled community.”

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She continued: “Living with a disability can be challenging but there are worse things in the world and I feel lucky every day and I am looking forward to helping members save money and make a real difference to their lives.”

Purpl also has a blog which offers knowledge, experiences and useful information for people living with a disability.

In the future Georgina hopes to recruit from the disabled community to ‘really make Purpl an inclusive company’.

To sign up for Purpl, go to purpldiscounts.com. People will need to verify their disability status, it accepts government or council documents like PIP/DLA Award letters, blue badge and other official standardised documents.

Purpl also accepts the Access Card and the National Disability ID Card.