He’s now fundraising after battling bowel cancer in 2006 and 2025
An actor had a mobility scooter ‘epiphany’ while playing a disabled character on a hit BBC show – and is now fundraising for one of his own. Vaun Earl Norman played Simon in Gregg Davies’ dark comedy The Cleaner, a character who used a mobility scooter to get around.
After undergoing extensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy offscreen, 60-year-old Vaun developed fibromyalgia leaving him struggling with fatigue and unable to walk far. While filming the first episode of season three of the series in June 2024, the dad-of-one realised how much easier life was with a mobility scooter.
The actor, a regular on Vic and Bob’s Big Night Out, said the experience made him realise just how much a mobility scooter could change his life. He’s now fundraising £6,000 to buy a mobility scooter of his own after battling bowel cancer in 2006 and 2025.
Vaun, from Yarm, North Yorkshire, said: “I had to drive around for the role and the scenes and never felt like that before. Before, I drove everywhere or didn’t do anything. I couldn’t walk very far because I get tired quite easily.
“If I do an hour’s housework, I’m bed-ridden for a couple of days from lack of energy. If I’ve got something coming up, I rest up for four to five days and then rest for another couple of weeks.
“When we weren’t doing scenes, I was moving around, going to get a cup of tea, wandering off. I could travel a mile away and enjoy the scenery and learn my lines by myself. It’s something I didn’t know I missed and it was an epiphany for me. I thought, ‘wow, I can do this.’
“This is something that would be useful in my real life, let alone my acting life.”
Struggling with extreme fatigue, Vaun said he became accustomed to simply staying put when he was tired, often relying on others to bring him things. Vaun said: “Normally I would have to sit in a chair and wait for someone to bring me a cup of tea.
“But [on the mobility scooter] I could zoom off, talk to someone for a bit and zoom off to somewhere else. It didn’t occur to me to do anything about it. If I could have a mobility scooter I could go out for a walk and be part of society.
“I’m hoping to be able to get around people’s houses or go out to the shops.”
You can donate to Vaun’s fundraiser for a mobility scooter here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/buy-a-mobility-scooter-6pzxz The actor and podcaster said he may never have realised how much he needed a mobility scooter if he had not taken on the role.
Vaun said: “I probably wouldn’t have put two and two together. If I hadn’t done this job I certainly wouldn’t think I need a mobility scooter. You get used to not being able to do stuff. I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of donations.”
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