Current Support

A national network for young wheelchair users

Last year Whizz-Kidz was awarded ottery funding to help support and develop its young Ambassador Network across England over five years. From May 2009, this unique network will give young wheelchair users up to the age of 25 the opportunity to campaign locally and nationally on issues they feel strongly about, while promoting peer-to-peer learning and development. It will also offer bespoke training and work-placements to empower disabled young people with the confidence and independence to prepare for further education and employment.

By the third year of the project, 48 Ambassador Clubs, each with a young wheelchair user leader and deputy leader will have been established throughout England and thousands of disabled young people will have the chance to come together, socialise, learn new skills and make a didifference in their community.

The right skills for disabled children

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is supporting Whizz-Kidz with a grant of over £300,000 so that more than 600 disabled children have the right wheelchair skills and knowledge to lead independent and fulfilling lives.

Whizz-Kidz’ wheelchair skills training project is a perfect fit with aims and objectives of the Department, helping an often excluded group to achieve each of the five Every Child Matters outcomes through professional and structured instruction.

Over the course of three years, nearly 50 DCSF-backed schemes will be held across England, offering the perfect foundation skills and confidence building tips for young wheelchair users to achieve, enjoy and be independent at school, home or play.

Supporting our network of therapists

Whizz-Kidz’ unique network of qualified mobility therapists form an integral part of our service provision, assessing disabled children and ensuring that they receive the right mobility equipment for their clinical, social, educational and developmental needs.

The network received a fantastic boost thanks to the generosity of The Freemasons’ Grand Charity who continued their long-standing support of Whizz-Kidz by donating £40,000 towards the costs of the Whizz-Kidz mobility therapist in the North East of England.

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.

Providing mobility equipment for children

Whizz-Kidz’ core service is the provision of appropriate mobility equipment, such as powered wheelchairs, sports and manual wheelchairs, and tricycles, to disabled children across the UK. This wheelchair and mobility equipment 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 disabled children. We gratefully received support from a number of major grant-givers, including The ACT Foundation, The Priority Trust The Talbot Village and the New Victoria Medical Foundation.

Thanks also to Cererar Hotels for their recent support.

Volunteering for change

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. Last year, support from v through its match fund, combined with the generosity of the True Colours Trust enabled Whizz-Kidz to launch a new two-year volunteering programme.

This programme provides a range of exciting part-time and short-term volunteering opportunities for disabled and non-disabled young people aged 16-25. The scheme enables them to  come together, learn new skills, boost their activity levels and make a difference in their community.

To find our more about our work with disabled children, please go to who we are or take a look at our film.

If you’d like to know more about the statutory and trust team at Whizz-Kidz, please contact Andy Howell, Statutory and Trusts Fundraising Manager on 020 7798 6113 or email us.