A STUDENT who designed a trike to help a four-year-old with a rare brain condition has been chosen to launch an invention project.

Emily Tulloh, a final-year Brunel University product design student, took to the stage as the Design Council announced Design Council Spark, a new £300,000 fund to encourage invention and develop items to solve problems people face every day.

The 21-year-old was chosen to help launch the initiative, at the Science Museum Information Age gallery in London, to represent young designers after she entered the council’s ‘ones to watch’ competition.

Her nomination came after she designed a custom-made trike in June for Summer Stokley, of Aukland Drive, Brighton, who has the rare neurological disorder Rett syndrome.

Summer needed the new trike to help her get around and go to school.

Charity Demand, from Hertfordshire, funded the trike after they heard about her struggle when an Argus reader contacted them.

Miss Tulloh said: “To speak alongside the cream of the country’s designers and inventors was truly inspiring but my thoughts were with four-year-old Summer Stokley.

“Summer has the rare disease which means she can’t walk and can only get about on a custom-made tricycle. I got involved when she out-grew her first trike and designed a new one for her with Demand who produce one-off disability aids.

“Good design can change people’s lives for the better but too often great ideas can be left on the shelf because designers, especially young designers, lack the business skills and financial backing to get them to market.

“Design Council Spark is a massive step towards plugging that gap.”

At the time The Argus was inundated with offers of help – ranging from design students to bike shops. Even the original makers of Summer’s old scooter looked into the possibility of whether they could build a special larger size trike for her. The Design Council fund is open to submissions from anyone with a product idea who can work and wishes to develop their product in the UK.

The move is backed by designers including Duncan Fitzsimons, creator of the world’s first fold up wheel, and wind-up radio inventor Trevor Baylis.