Bobbing along in the wake of York Environment Week 2023, and our successful blister pack project (we’ve already collected half a tonne’s worth of empty blister packs), we are launching another green initiative in York: an Equipment Amnesty. Ah yes, I hear you say, you’ve run collections in the past, so how is this one different?
Well friends, this time we have are accepting any mobility items, and the big drum-roll announcement is that we have linked up with a brilliant charity PhysioNet to take some of the items that are difficult to reuse here in the UK.
So, collect up your crutches, search out those shower stools, round up the grab-rails, and wheedle out the wheelchairs, toilet frames, chair risers, walking sticks, and Aircast boots; basically any mobility items you’ve collected or been given that have perhaps helped a family member with their recovery from an operation, or with their mobility. Don’t see the Medequip or Be Independent sticker on the handle (these two firms supply our local NHS)? No problem! We will welcome all brands of donations. Perhaps you're tidying a loft, helping a relative move house, or even going through the sad and stressful process of sorting through the belongings of a relative who has died? Hopefully knowing that your equipment can go on to help someone else will be rewarding, as well as freeing up space.
So, for 2 weeks from 10am Monday 16th October – 6pm Sunday 29th October, anybody is welcome to drop off items in the blue Medequip bin in the carpark at Acomb Garth Community Centre (2 Oak Rise, York YO24 4LJ). All brands welcome. No questions asked. Medequip, who have kindly supplied the bin, will empty the bin regularly, and clean and repair the equipment and send it back to our local hospital departments and physio clinics, where it can be used again and again for local patients. And any items that don’t meet the NHS’s re-use standards will be sent to charity to be used overseas, where we know they will have life-changing impact.
This amnesty will benefit patients who are waiting for equipment, slash costs to our local NHS from previously wasted or non-returned equipment, reduce our carbon footprint as we’ll need fewer brand-new items manufactured, and provide life-changing equipment for patients in less developed countries. I make that a quadruple-win!
Please share this with your local friends and family who may have items to contribute. We are particularly keen to collect Aircast boots (sometimes known as space boots; given to patients with foot and ankle injuries), as historically patients have been advised to put these in domestic waste, but now they can be reused overseas through our partner PhysioNet. Our amnesty is all set to be toe-tally shoe-nique!