A CAMPAIGNING mum-of-four has left the house on her own for the first time in two years after being given a customised wheelchair.

Iolanda Birmingham, 48, from Blackburn, has suffered from the debilitating neurological disorder dystonia, which affects the parts of the brain that control movement, since 1979.

Since being diagnosed she has become an executive member of a support group and has organised seminars to raise awareness of the condition.

The former management lecturer, who was forced to give up her job as the condition grew worse, had not been able to leave the house unaccompanied for two years and had relied on her husband Alan to push her wheelchair about.

Iolanda said: "Every time I went out in the old wheelchair I ended up in hospital, but this one is battery powered and that won't happen. My husband used to take me into town and leave me for 10 minutes, it was like being a child.

"I had become a bystander, a spectator, watching the world go by from the window of my flat, but this wheelchair will change that.

"It has given me a bit of independence."

The wheelchair was supplied by Millercare of Oswaldtwistle, who trained Iolanda to use it and are available to be called out if she gets stuck.

It was paid for by the Daniel Thwaites Charitable Trust.

Iolanda said: "I didn't feel I was a very worthy cause, but I'm grateful.

"Like a scooter, it allows me the freedom to go out on my own or to travel alongside my husband.

"After being indoors for two years, it's like being released from prison."