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Current support
Supporting wheelchair skills training for young people
Thanks to the Big Lottery Fund, Whizz-Kidz began to run wheelchair skills training schemes in a number of locations across England.
With the help from the Big Lottery Fund, whose funding ends in 2008, the scheme has been able to develop into an excellent national programme focused on increasing the independence of young wheelchair users by enabling them to get the most from their wheelchair, as well learn new road safety skills and have fun at the same time.
The wheelchair skills training scheme was originally developed as a pilot scheme and funded by the Department of Health.
For more information, please go to wheelchair skills training or take a look at our film.
Supporting our North East mobility centre
The Big Lottery Fund also funds our North East Mobility Centre in Newcastle, which enables us to reach as many families as possible in the region.
The centre offers advice, information and support to families in a ‘one-stop shop’ environment. Through equipment assessments, wheelchair skills training and equipment clinics, the centre has become the focus of our activities in the North East and provides a vital service.
The centre opened in 2003 as a pilot project and once again, was funded a Department of Health Section 64 grant.
Supporting our West Midlands mobility centre
Thanks to an extremely generous donation from the Vodafone UK Foundation, Whizz-Kidz was able to open another Mobility Centre in the West Midlands, based in Selly Oak in Birmingham. Using knowledge gained from the set up of the North East Mobility Centre, the Birmingham centre has very quickly become a focus for paediatric mobility in the Midlands and is forging strong relationships with local individuals and organisations.
For more information, go to mobility centres
Supporting our network of therapists
Whizz-Kidz' unique network of qualified mobility therapists form an integral part of our service provision, assessing children and ensuring that they receive the right mobility equipment for their clinical, social, educational and developmental needs. Funded by a number of trusts and foundations, including the Freemasons’ Grand Charity, Entertainment Software Charity and The Garfield Weston Foundation, our therapists are occupational and physiotherapists trained in paediatric mobility and an essential part of our service delivery.
Our therapists also provide information, advice and support to the families and carers of disabled children and young people.
For more information, please go to what we do
Supporting our family advice service
Providing advice, information and support to the families that come to us is an integral part of our service. Whizz-Kidz has a dedicated family advice worker who liaises with the families and answers any questions they may have about their child’s mobility needs.
With the generous support of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales, Whizz-Kidz has been able to develop this service in conjunction with Contact a Family. The advice worker is being trained by Contact a Family to meet the community legal service general help standard and in other disciplines such as benefits, tax credits and housing. This will build the capacity of Whizz-Kidz to support more families and provide access to a wider range of information. The project will also benefit Contact a Family, whose staff will have the opportunity to learn more about child mobility and specialist provision.
For more information about our advice service, please go to what we do
Providing mobility equipment for children
Whizz-Kidz' core service is the provision of customised mobility equipment, such as powered wheelchairs, sports and manual wheelchairs, bikes and tricycles, to disabled children across the UK. This provision is very generously funded by a large number of trusts and foundations, both large and small and each donation is instrumental in Whizz-Kidz addressing the needs of children with mobility impairments. We gratefully received support from a number of major grant-givers, including Leatherseller's Company Charitable Fund, The ACT Foundation and BBC Children in Need.
For more information about our service, please go to what we do
v
The youth volunteering charity v is supporting Whizz-Kidz as part of its drive to increase the number of young people from under-represented groups in England who volunteer. From April 2007, Whizz-Kidz’ one year volunteering prgramme will provide a range of exciting part-time and short-term volunteering opportunities for disabled and non-disabled young people aged 16-25 so that they can come together, learn new skills, boost their activity levels and make a difference in their community.
To find our more about Whizz-Kidz work, please go to who we are or take a look at our film
If you'd like to contact the Trusts & Statutory team call them on 020 7233 6600 or email us
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My Hippo Powered chair enables me to get myself to school, have days out, and I can now see over fences and through windows! I can also recline the chair when I need a rest!