Upcycled wheelchairs from the Highlands go global - helping more than 200 people in some of the world's poorest countries
Rotarians in Inverness have helped 200 disabled people across the world to get mobile.
Inverness Culloden Rotary Club has restored wheelchairs and walking aids for people in 28 nations.
Members have teamed up with UK charity PhysioNet, NHS Highland, Inverness Men’s Shed and Inverness Prison to assess thousands of wheelchairs and other bits of mobility equipment in the Highlands that were due to be decommissioned.
The aim is to upcycle them and get them to folk who would otherwise be without.
Project organiser Derek Mcrae said: “I am a member of the International Committee of the Rotary Club and we have been working with PhysioNet, who are based in Yorkshire, and have been sending equipment that will no longer be used in the NHS to people in need across the globe.
“Because of the work PhysioNet have been doing throughout the UK, they discovered that between 3000 and 4000 wheelchairs in NHS Highland were going to be decommissioned over the next few years, and they invited the Inverness Culloden Rotary Club to get involved.
“We were delighted to do so. The support we have received has been quite incredible.”
Mr Mcrae said NHS Highland contacts the Rotary Club when it has 30-40 wheelchairs that can be recycled. Members then pick them up on trailers and take them to a storage unit they have been offered from G4S, where each chair is assessed.
Chairs that need only minor maintenance are fixed by rotarians on site, and those that need much more work are given to the prison to be upgraded and worked on.
Equipment to help children increase their mobility is being restored by Inverness Men’s Shed.
“The prisoners have been doing a great job, often bringing chairs that are quite badly damaged or faulty back into use. It is wonderful to see the results,” Mr Mcrae said.
International committee chairman John Harrison, also a member of Inverness Culloden Rotary Club, said: “PhysioNet collect the chairs and equipment before it is shipped around the world. Thank you to everyone who has made it possible.”
The group is currently looking for a free or very low cost storage unit because it is beginning to outgrow its current premises. Anyone who can help should email derek_mcrae@hotmail.com
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