Fund Raising Options through Charities for a wheelchair and mobility equipment

23rd March 2017

Charity Funding Grants

So you’ve tried one of our Mountain Trike all terrain wheelchair products or you’ve seen one and thought, wow, that would be amazing and would really change my life (or someone in my family). But, alas you don’t take it any further due to the small matter of how to afford one.

We're all about over coming obstacles here at Mountain Trike, including financial ones.

The high end specification of our Mountain Trike products means that the price is pretty high end too. We don’t want to offer a sub-standard product and each element that goes into the build of our all-terrain wheelchairs are why you get the ‘wow’ factor and I guess why all our products receive such rave reviews and why they are award winning.

Over the years customers have found many ways to raise funds for their Mountain Trikes and as it is a question we often get asked about, we thought it would be a good idea to try and jot the detail and options available for funding through various charities. So here we go…

CHARITIES:

There are numerous charities or associations who offer help and advice and work tirelessly to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity to live life to the full despite an injury or illness. Listed below are a few charities we know of who have helped customers in the past:

Shine provides specialist support from before birth and throughout the life of anyone living with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus, as well as to parents, families, carers and professional care staff. Shine enables people to get the best out of life.

Meningitis Research Foundation MRF provide direct support to people and families affected. They believe that working in partnership the knowledge, experience, skills and finance available from the private sector are essential to achieving long term and sustainable impacts. They fundraise, inform and educate.

Aspire provides practical help to people who have been paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury. Aspire grants offer funding for specialist equipment not available from statutory services such as lightweight wheelchairs, powered chairs, electronic page turners and assistive technology equipment.

Muscular Dystrophy UK provides grants for both children and adults with muscle disease through the Joseph Patrick Trust (JPT). It is able to part fund equipment such as manual and electric wheelchairs, trikes, assistive technology, therapy equipment and electric beds.

MS Society The MS Society fund research, give grants, campaign for change, provide information and support, invest in MS specialists and lend a listening ear to those who need it.

Access to Work An Access to Work Grant can pay for practical support if you have a disability, health or mental health condition. Please see our blog piece regarding the process for this here.

Friends of Huck aids people who find themselves in a place of financial hardship through ill-heath or injury. They do this by providing grants of money, services, and equipment that the person in need could not afford or have access to without the help of the charity.

The Injured Jockeys Fund provide appropriate support, financial or otherwise, in a prompt and sympathetic manner to those jockeys past or present who are injured, unable to ride or generally in need.

Caudwell Children provide family support services, equipment, treatment and therapies for disabled children and their families across the UK. They also run the Enable Sport programme for talented disabled athletes and their Destination Dreams holiday for children fighting life-threatening conditions.

Tree of Hope helps children and young people with a disability or illness by supporting their families to raise the funds that they need to pay for specialist medical treatment, therapy and equipment that is not freely available through the UK healthcare system.

Whizz Kids is a children’s charity helping children with a disability throughout the UK by providing wheelchairs and mobility aids to kids.

Action for Kids supports disabled children and young people up to 26 years to develop their mobility, personal and independent living skills. It supplies a variety of mobility equipment not available through the NHS. This includes powered, manual and sports wheelchairs, walkers, trikes, scooters and car seats.

Cerebra help improve the lives of children with brain related conditions through research, education and directly supporting the children and their carers.

The Boparan Charitable Trust helps children and young people under 18 years in the UK who are disadvantaged through poverty, disability or terminal illness. Each application request is judged on its own merits. The Trust has previously funded wheelchairs, trikes, sensory books, toys and special wishes.

MILITARY:

If you have previously served in the armed forces there are a number of charities available and you may be eligible for funding through them.

Help for Heroes supports those with injuries and illnesses sustained while serving in the British Armed Forces. No matter when someone served, they give the support you need to lead active, independent and fulfilling lives.

SSAFA is a UK charity providing welfare and support for those serving in the armed forces, veterans and armed forces families. Supporting the army, RAF and Navy.

BLESMA The Limbless Veterans is an Armed Forces charity supporting limbless veterans by providing rehabilitative activities, support, and some financial aid.

Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund provide a range of support aimed at serving and former RAF personnel. They include welfare breaks for families and veterans, grants to help with getting about inside and outside the home, specialised advice on benefits and care services and support for young people through our Airplay programme.

These are just a few organisations we have come across and dealt with but we will continue to add to this list to try and keep you as informed as possible.

Generally when applying for funding through a charity you will need to supply them with a written quote which we are more than happy to do for you. Just get in touch with us and we can arrange to send you any paperwork required to help you with your application.

If a charity isn’t an option for you then you might want to consider self funding or contacting an organisation local to you who maybe able to offer help - check out our blog piece ‘here’ for detail about how to go about this.

As an alternative we also offer 0% finance on our Mountain Trike products which is a flexible scheme with low monthly payments. For further information on this have a read of our Finance page here.