200 Wheelchairs shipped to The Gambia

Banjul

£785

Successful

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Aim

Legs4Africa wants to raise £6000 to provide hundreds of Gambians with mobility equipment

Legs4Africa is looking to raise six thousand pounds to furnish The Wheelchair Centre, that supplies the whole of The Gambia, with wheelchairs, parts and tools as well as the nearby physiotherapy department with essential equipment.

Over a hundred wheelchair users are being forced to wait for repairs and customisation of their wheelchairs due to the lack of tools and parts. In desperation, the frustrated technicians have resorted to using scrap metal just so some wheelchair repairs may be made but this is neither ideal nor a long term solution. The skilled wheelchair centre engineers are waiting for updated tools and parts so that they may customise each donated wheelchair for its intended recipient.

Legs4Africa have seen, first hand, the woeful state of the workshop and have spoken to wheelchair users which this lack of resources has directly affected. The engineers are ready to go, all they need is the tools and equipment.

Shipping

Much of the equipment for the wheelchair centre and physiotherapy department has already been collected, including 200 wheelchairs and a great number of spare parts, all we need to do is get it to them. The shipping of the wheelchairs, materials and other mobility equipment will cost £3000 to transport a container from our Bristol based storage centre to the Banjul port and then on to the hospital there. The physiotherapy department is also running low on equipment, so we intend to ship our stock of 400 pairs of crutches, 200 walking frames and 50 wheeled walkers.

Tools and parts

We wish to raise another £2,000 for tools and parts to replace the old and, much of the time, failing equipment for the wheelchair centre and further accessories for the physiotherapy department such as rubber ferrules which are needed for the safe use of crutches and walkers.

Specialised wheelchair tires

For a further £1,000 Legs4Africa intends to buy specialised off road tires for the wheelchairs that will work in Gambia’s sandy streets along with replacement inner-tubes and bearings which are prone to wear out quickly in such an environment.

In all, this shipment is destined to help hundreds, providing them with the means to be mobile and to be independent. Such equipment means that people don’t have to be immobile and isolated. Such equipment means that they can take their rightful place in their community, disability be damned.

Breakdown

£3000 will deliver the items we already have from our Bristol storage centre to the hospital in Banjul, The Gambia. This includes 200 wheelchairs, 400 pairs of crutches, 200 walking frames and 50 wheeled walkers.

£1000 will be spent on decent hand tools and consumables such as; angle grinder plus grinding disks, welder plus welding rods, and an electric drill plus bits.

£1000 will be spent on buying parts for the wheelchairs, crutches and walkers so that they can be kept in use for years to come such as; ferrules for the crutches and walkers, tyres and inner-tubes for the wheelchairs, and puncture repair kits.

£1000 will be spent on buying large front wheels and wheel-bearings, so the wheelchairs can be modified for the sandy Gambian terrain, increasing usability of a chair significantly.

“This shipment can make so much difference for so many people.” Says Tom Williams, founder of Legs4Africa. “This is part of our ongoing work in countries such as the Gambia to remobilise people, reduce isolation and increase inclusion for disabled people in their local community.”

This project successfully funded on 12th February 2017

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