Physionet

UPDATE: PhysioNet’s first shipment of 2021 dispatched during February. The consignment is bound for South Africa and sent in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Northcliff, Johannesburg who have spearheaded a project to supply wheelchairs to the surrounding areas and countries. Over the past 13 years RC Northcliff have supplied +40,000 units.  Our shipment contained 800 items of mobility equipment including 250 wheelchairs.

BACKGROUND: As part of our ongoing work with York based charity Physionet in collecting (and repairing/reconditioning where necessary) discarded wheelchairs from NHS Highland, around 10 members of the Rotary Club of Inverness Culloden met at our storage depot in Henderson Drive.

There we loaded a lorry with almost 80 items consisting of wheelchairs, support frames, paediatric wheelchairs and other support devices which will be sorted into containers in York and sent abroad to help people in need. Specialist paediatric physiotherapists in York advise on the allocation to recipients of particular specialist support frames.

A Rotary club in South Africa receives and distributes quite a number of these for Physionet. 

We understand some 3-4000 wheelchairs will be upgraded over the next few years in NHS Highland so If you can help with this ongoing project and in particular offer storage space for our collected items please contact us on Facebook.

Currently much of the refurbishment is undertaken by HM Prison Inverness and by the Inverness Men’s Shed.

The team worked together today for only an hour and were able to load the lorry fairly quickly; we have more wheelchairs and support frames to be moved in the coming weeks and months so if you can help in any way, please let us know - many hands make light work.