I'm a bit of a mobility roadshow junkie and have such been to many including the Gowrings Mobility Open Day in Newbury, the Independent Living Show in London and Naidex in Birmingham.

Naidex is the biggest and by far the best in my opinion, and as it's held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham it's a handy ten minutes away by train from my home city of Coventry. I have been to Naidex every year for the past five years and every year there are so many new things to see. My most recent visit to Naidex was in April 2008. Entry was and always has been free.

One of the many great things about these shows is the sheer amount of information you can pick up about any particular item. For example, when I went to Naidex a few years ago I was at the time researching powerchairs. I went to the Motability stand to ask about getting one on the scheme and here everything was explained and I was given some leaflets. Next I went to the Pride Mobility stand (Pride are manufacturers of powered wheelchairs), spoke to the dealer about getting one of their chairs on the scheme, picked up some leaflets and actually took one of the many display models for a spin.

Indeed, these shows are fantastic because products are sat there for you to try. This is a brilliant opportunity if, for example, you want to buy a manual chair or some other specific item as you're able to try and compare a vast range of different brands and models. You are free to roll in and out of cars, use different exercise equipment and test drive wheelchairs.

Yes I wouldn't recommend a visit to one of these shows enough. However I would consider taking your own food as catering at these shows can be very expensive! Also consider hiring a powerchair or manual wheelchair if you don't have one of you own because of the sheer size of these shows - wheelchairs, powerchiars and scooters are always available to hire but it best to arrive early and grab one quick as they are usually in high demand.