Charities that could loan a power wheelchair

Berniebabe

Hello to all here.my husband was diagnmosed two and a half years ago with guillium barre syndrome which takes 2 - 3 years to get out of his system, he was in hospital for 13 months and has been home for 14 months now, he has a manuel wheelchair which is very hard to use by himself so i take him for short walks as he weighs 19 stone it is hard for me to push him far, i wondered if the3re are any charities that could loan a power wheelchair to him so i could take him out for a brak, would like to be able to take him to  the seaside for a short break but wouldnt be able to push him around for any length of time due to the weight, he is 74 and i am 63.   Thank you for any help you may be able to give us.
Bernadette Ainsworth

Debbie_Alumni

Hi Bernadette,

As the community team have suggested, you might be able to get help with a wheelchair on the NHS but it will require an assessment and it can be a bit of a long process to go through. It's certainly worth thinking about though. There's some more information about this on the NHS Choices website http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/pages/mobility-equipment-wheelchairs-scooters.aspx 

As far as I'm aware the British Red Cross only loan self-propelling or transit wheelchairs but it's still worth checking with them in case they know of local organisations who can help.

I've not been able to find any charities which offer free power chair loans although there are quite a few companies which can hire them out at a cost.

It might be worth getting in touch with your local Age UK service to see if they know of any local organisations which might be able to assist you with this as well. http://www.ageuk.org.uk/ 

If I come across anything else, I'll let you know

I hope these suggestions have been helpful and if we can be of further assistance, let us know.

Best wishes
Debbie