little grippa came to life after one mother tried to create shade for her student daughter. Living in an inner west terrace, her daughter’s courtyard was blasted with sun, so the solution was a sun umbrella. A Xmas gift. A relief, but not when a gust of wind in this protected courtyard shockingly shot the umbrella skywards and snapped their lovingly strung Christmas lights.

So, back to the hardware store to find something that would stop further damage or possible injury when the umbrella took flight again, only to reveal what we all know is a force to be reckoned with.

The choice? Very heavy umbrella bases, impossible to lift without help. Unless you’re a footballer. It’s a two-person job, such unnecessary planning and something so minor – in the shop, to get it in the car, get it out of the car, get it to where you’d love to secure your umbrella. Then the difficulty of moving it when you need to, then you have to deal with stains, scratches to your lovely outdoor surface. And if you’re renting either you pay for the damage, or the base will stay put or both.

So, having no footballer to draw on (her talented footballer son was not on hand) the mother came up with her own idea. Enter little grippa
With the wonderful support of the coaches at the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre at UNSW, the idea became a prototype and with the confidence of a local manufacturer, little grippa has become a reality.