Help our children and young adults go further and support our Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Appeal

This summer, with your help, we hope to raise £45,000 to purchase a new Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) to provide efficient, safe and cost-effective transport for the young people who use our Children and Young Adults services.

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Did you know that at St Oswald’s Hospice, we have a dedicated Transport Service that helps to get our patients of all ages to and from the hospice, as well as take them safely to appointments, for therapeutic activities and even on day trips and adventures, during their stays with us?

Our relatively new Outreach Service extends our care to children and young people away from the hospice, whether that’s at home or in the community, tailored to each family’s needs. This means our staff will provide care and support at the young person’s home or take them out for therapeutic – and fun- activities.

And the children staying with us for respite breaks really enjoy getting out and about, on day trips and visits, often one on one with a member of staff.

A Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle would make short trips more efficient and comfortable for both our young service users and staff. We can quickly and easily get to families, to deliver care in their home. And if the young person requires transport to an appointment, a hydrotherapy session or to meet friends, they and their wheelchair can travel safely with a member of staff.

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This isn’t possible with a standard car, yet using a minibus to transport one child isn’t economical or practical, and puts the bus out of use for the rest of the service.

If, with your kind support, we are able to reach the £45,000 fundraising target, we could purchase a suitable vehicle and fit it out with the correct features, harnesses and restraints needed to ensure the safety of staff and passengers.

Target: £45,000

Raised: £15,382

Thank you for your support.

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Wheelchair Accessibe Vehicle (WAV) Appeal - Web Graphics

About the Wheelchair Accessible vehicle

We’ve worked with our transport team to find the right vehicle for our young people’s needs. It must fit an adult-sized electric wheelchair, with a ramp, winch, safety restraints, and fittings for oxygen cylinders.

The vehicle will also include two front seats and an escort seat in the back, ensuring young people are always supervised.

A fully adapted Ford Tourneo Custom or VW Caddy costs around £45,000. Any extra funds raised will help keep our transport fleet running safely for the children and young adults who rely on it.

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Your donation would give our young people the freedom to experience adventures and independence

We think it’s important that our children and young adults are able to get out and about during their short breaks at St Oswald’s Hospice, especially in the summer months. Having suitable transport to take a child out to make memories would be made much easier with a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle.

Discover how a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle will enhance the lives of the young people we support

We support a teenager with her social needs, ensuring that she enjoys the best possible quality of life. Two or three times each week, she heads out on adventures with a members of our team. She loves fairground rides, so our support workers spend a lot of time whizzing around at a local fun fair! Quieter, but equally happy days have been spent at a nearby Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and at a haberdashery where she enjoys browsing the fabrics and especially the buttons!

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Discover how a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle will enhance the lives of the young people we support

Nick, one of our young adults, really enjoys meeting friends for a catch up. This is important for him from a social point of view and helps Nick to feel independent. So, when he’s staying with us, we try to arrange for Nick to meet friends for a meal or a coffee. But transport can be challenging. A wheelchair accessible vehicle would allow us to take Nick on his solo meetups  while another group are out for a fun trip in our minibus.

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Discover how a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle will enhance the lives of the young people we support

The adapted vehicle would also be perfect for when we take a young person for offsite Hydrotherapy sessions. Hydrotherapy is a great way to help them relax, ease pain and build strength in their muscles. We take just one child at a time, so an accessible vehicle would be the perfect way to get them there and back.

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Thank you for your support