Skills for Life UK is a programme for
people of all ages living with bilateral
upper limb difference.
We want those living with bilateral upper limb difference to have every opportunity to live life fully, feel empowered and connected, overcome barriers to independence, and be well supported by those that serve them.
Life with bilateral upper limb difference can be incredibly difficult and isolating. There are so many things to work out and challenges to overcome, often without an accessible example of how someone else has done it. Often, the best person to show you what is possible is someone who has been there themselves.
Skills for Life UK is about bringing people together to make a real difference. It’s a proven and successful programme in the USA – and it’s time to bring the same opportunity to the UK and Europe.
Why Does Skills
for Life UK Exist?
Connecting with other people who experience the same personal challenges is not an easy thing to access in the UK for this population. Those who suffer limb loss, often report feeling that they are the only people out there missing both hands. Adjustment often feels impossible. This isolation can affect confidence, emotional wellbeing and aspirations.
Skills for Life exists to provide:
- Peer support from people with lived experience
- Practical workshops that build everyday independence
- Family support and shared learning
Access to clinicians, therapists and prosthetic professionals - Learning opportunities for clinicians and professionals to better understand lived experience, practical solutions & best practice
- A lifelong community that celebrates ability and resilience
Help us build Skills for Life UK
You can help us make this happen.
Whether you want to take part, support the programme, become a sponsor or simply help spread the word, we’d love to hear from you.
We want to make this support free to access to those that we serve. We are reliant on support to make this a reality. There is a unique opportunity to get involved through sponsorship, or providing support services, for this pioneering programme.
Every person who gets involved helps us build something that hasn’t existed in the UK before.
Meet people who understand
Imagine feeling like you’re the only person out there.
Then you arrive at an event and a room-full of people who have been through something similar.
“For the first time, my child met other children
just like them. They came home believing they could do anything.”
That’s what peer support can do.
It’s sharing the little things that make everyday life easier. It’s learning how someone else cooks, works, travels or enjoys their hobbies. It’s discovering new ways of doing things.
And sometimes it’s simply knowing that someone else gets it.
- Learn. Connect. Have fun.
- Skills for Life isn’t just about rehabilitation.
- It’s about getting together, trying things, learning from each other and enjoying yourself.
- You might learn a new practical skill.
- You might try something you’ve never done before.
- You might meet someone who becomes a lifelong friend.
- Or you might be the person who gives someone else the confidence to try something for the first time.
If you think that you and your family would like to attend our programme, please see our booking options or reach out to us for further information.
We want people to leave thinking: “If they can do it, maybe I can too.”
A First for Europe
Skills for Life is already well established in the USA.
Skills for Life UK is bringing the programme to Europe for the first time, with the support of the Enhancing Skills for Life Team.
There is currently nothing in the UK that specifically brings together people living with bilateral upper limb difference in this way.
We want to build something that belongs to the community – for amputees, by amputees – while also giving clinicians the opportunity to learn and develop.
This is just the start.
Our flagship residential weekend will bring together participants from across the UK for an unforgettable experience combining
learning, friendship and fun (and some of our friends from the USA!).
Our Events
Come and meet us in the Lake District – our first Skills For Life UK Event – 28th May 2027!
We will be kicking things off with a completely accessible weekend with the Calvert Trust in the beautiful Lake District.
It will be a chance to meet other people, share experiences, learn new skills and try some new activities.
People who have taken part in Skills for Life in the USA talk about the friendships they’ve made, the skills they’ve learned and the confidence they’ve gained. “I travelled by myself to my first workshop… I didn’t know anyone and felt like I was the only amputee out there.” They went – and met 16 other people like them. That’s what we’re hoping to create here in the UK. Not just an event. A community.
Most importantly, it will be a chance to spend time with people who understand.
- Come as you are.
- Meet people.
- Learn something new.
- Have some fun.
Upcoming Events
Clinician’s development course
Thur 27 May 2027 – Friday 28th May 2027
Keswick – Pencil Factory & Calvert Trust, CA12 5FD
Peer Support Weekend
Fri 28th May – Monday 31st May 2027
Keswick – Calvert Trust, CA12 5FD
For Clinicians
We recognise how difficult it is for clinicians to develop the skills needed to serve this population well. Skills for Life UK gives clinicians an opportunity to attend learning events specifically focussed on multiple limb difference, bringing international expertise together, so that we can learn and develop services together.
Skills for Life UK also offers opportunities for clinicians and those living with bilateral upper limb difference to come together, collaborate and learn from lived experience. Immersive learning opportunities provide a unique perspective, allowing skills to be developed, focussing on the true experience of our community, and developing services with the right individuals’ voices at the heart of it.
After attending the most recent Skills for Life workshop in 2025, one clinician said, “This honestly has to be the most enlightening, valuable and inspiring experience of my professional career. Getting to share a small part of ‘everyday life’ with all of the participants offered me with the greatest and most unique opportunity to learn I have ever experienced in my many years of practice.”
We are holding our inaugural clinical development course on 27th and 28th May 2027. Come along, learn and share your own knowledge and experience, so we can pool resources so that everyone can learn from each other.
We don’t want to create an event. We want to build a community.
What’s next?
We want Skills for Life UK to grow into a lasting network for people living without both arms.
A place where someone can meet others who have already been through what they’re facing.
A place to share ideas, ask questions, learn skills and build friendships.
And a place where clinicians can develop the knowledge and confidence to support this community.
We want nobody to feel like they’re the only one.
Skills for Life UK is just getting started.
Following our first residential weekend in May
2027, we want to build on what we learn and
continue developing the programme in
partnership with participants, families,
clinicians and the wider community.
