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This lesson explores the importance of
communication and how technology can
play a part in creating a fairer world.
TREVOR BAYLIS

Trevor Baylis was once a

stuntman, and an
underwater escapologist!
In 1972 he set up a
business building and
maintaining swimming
pools.
However, he had always
considered himself to be
more of an inventor than
an entrepreneur.
In 1993 he
heard a report
about AIDS in
Africa.
Trevor heard that the disease was
spreading faster because people did not
have any information about it.

He also heard that many people were not

listening to the radio because they didn’t
have electricity and could not afford
batteries.
‘I imagined someone listening close to the horn of an
old gramophone. It was so obvious: if a clockwork
gramophone could produce that sound, why not apply
the idea to a radio?’
Trevor went straight to
his shed and started
working. He worked on a
clockwork mechanism. A
spring was wound up. As it
unwound it acted as a
generator, and the radio
played.

His first prototype

played for 14 minutes on
a 2 minute wind.

Can you think of anything that works by this mechanism?

Within three months he had proved that the idea
could work, but convincing others took a lot more
time.

Eventually, in 1994, Trevor’s

invention featured on a BBC
programme called
‘Tomorrow’s World’.

Two viewers, Chris Staines and Rory Stear recognised

the value of his idea.
They obtained some development money from
Liberty Life, a South African company which
specialises in developing products and getting
them into the shops quickly.
They also teamed up
with Disabled
People of South
Africa, which enabled
groups of disabled
people to become
business partners in the
new company which they
called Baygen Radio.
Soon a small factory was set up in Cape Town.

Before long radios called FREEPLAY were rolling

off the assembly line.
Many radios were bought by
organisations such as the International
Red Cross and UNICEF.
In 1996 Trevor Baylis was awarded ‘Best Product’
and ‘Best Design’ at the BBC Design Awards.

He had the
honour of
meeting the
Queen and
Nelson
Mandela at a
state
banquet.
Trevor has since been awarded the OBE
(Order of the British Empire).
In 1997 FREEPLAY Radio 2 rolled off the
assembly line. It was smaller and lighter,
and played for 1 hour on a 30 second wind.

Since this time Trevor has used his

engineering and inventive skills to develop
a number of small products which aid
those with limitations.
He has also set up an organisation called
Trevor Baylis Brands which aims to
help inventors develop their products
and take them to market, while
protecting them from theft of their
ideas.
Trevor tells his story:

Click here
 Glossary
• entrepreneur – someone who runs a business

• orphan – a child with no living parents

• prototype – a trial product, the first of its kind

• assembly line – a method of manufacture,

where parts are assembled on a moving belt.
Activities to complete this lesson include:

• making a list of the

personal qualities of
a good activist
• painting activity
• deigning something
to help someone who
is disadvantaged in
some way.
Click on the image above to view
and/or download learning activities.

Rate this lesson here.

 Useful Web Links

• www.youthpeer.org - an international project linking schools and young

people on AIDS education and prevention
• http://eu.staying-alive.org/stayingalive/shells/watch.jhtml?article=30113660
– links to a small fun campaign film Save the Humans produced by MTV
about the AIDS epidemic around the World
• http://www.uniteforchildren.org/ - Children unite against AIDS, a website for
children and young people
• http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/ramfiles/unite_11_high.ram - A short video
made by children around the World about AIDS
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/chat/hotseat/newsid_1858000/1858355.s
tm - Trevor Baylis in the hot seat, read his interview about the wind-up radio
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25931-1901581,00.html – an article
from the Times online about how Zambian children are benefiting from the
wind-up radio
 This picture is by Mokwaledi Gontshwanetse a
South African artist. It is called ‘Working Together’.
ACTIVITY:
Paint a picture entitled ‘Togetherness’ in
African Style.

Success Criteria:
I have painted in bold, bright colours
I have included silhouettes of people
I have drawn a combination of geometric and
abstract shapes.
 At the end of
2003, 12 million
children under 18
had lost at least
one parent to
AIDS in Africa
 Nearly 90
million Africans
could be infected
by HIV in the
next 20 years if
more is not done
to combat the
epidemic. Orphaned children in South Africa

The United Nations recommends a campaign against HIV/AIDS

costing £105 billion to stem its spread.
 Can you place Cape

Town on this map of

South Africa?
Click for the answer
What is UNICEF?
Click for the answer

UNICEF is the United Nations

Children’s Fund. It is an organisation
which fights for health, education,
equality, protection for every child.
 Glossary
• entrepreneur – someone who runs a business

• orphan – a child with no living parents

• prototype – a trial product, the first of its kind

• assembly line – a method of manufacture,

where parts are assembled on a moving belt.
 Click here to download the ‘Learning
Activities’ (in pdf format) which complete
this lesson.
 Useful Web Links

• www.youthpeer.org - an international project linking schools and young

people on AIDS education and prevention
• http://eu.staying-alive.org/stayingalive/shells/watch.jhtml?article=30113660
– links to a small fun campaign film Save the Humans produced by MTV
about the AIDS epidemic around the World
• http://www.unicef.org/uniteforchildren/youth/index.html - Children unite
against AIDS, a website for children and young people
• http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/ramfiles/unite_11_high.ram - A short video
made by children around the World about AIDS
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/chat/hotseat/newsid_1858000/1858355.s
tm
- Trevor Baylis in the hot seat, read his interview about the wind-up radio
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25931-1901581,00.html – an article
from the Times online about how Zambian children are benefiting from the
wind-up radio
If you enjoyed this lesson, why not try:

Network

How the people in one community in India support each other by

sharing ideas and resources. Designing products for a particular
need or purpose.

The Gift of Sight

How the eye works. Some causes of blindness. Saving

sight in the developing world. Testing the senses.