Return, Sell, or Donate your mobility aids

Sometimes your needs change – so how can you return, sell, or donate used independent living and mobility aids and equipment?

Independent living aids can be pieces of large specialist equipment or small useful gadgets. They can even be pieces of furniture or mobility equipment. Independent living aids can be anything that makes life easier and aids with independence or your mobility. By the very nature of multiple sclerosis (MS), people’s needs can change. If needs or circumstances progress, you may end up with independent living aids and equipment that you can no longer make full use of.

There are many good reasons for finding a new home for your old equipment

• Many people will describe independent living aids as life-changing. If they’re no longer suitable for you, someone else may find them life-changing too
• Given that society is doing its best to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill, it’s understandable that there’s a big push on recycling, reusing and rehoming items
• Equipment is often very expensive and may have cost you a lot of money. If your current aid is no longer working for you, it makes sense to try and sell it to see if you can recoup some funds towards the cost of an aid that will meet your needs now

Considerations

It’s important to remember that some equipment and aids may possibly have been altered, adapted or made especially for you. These kinds of bespoke items may not be able to be reused. However, for most unaltered pieces of equipment it is possible to try and give them a new life, being used by someone who needs it.

Returning equipment

If the equipment is something that has been given to you by the local authority, the NHS or a charity, it is only right that you offer it back to them now that you can no longer make full use of it. If they tell you that they cannot accept the item for any reason, it is a good idea to ask them to pop that in writing for you, just in case you are ever challenged over ownership or the right to sell, donate or gift the item.

If this is an item that you have bought, the original supplier or manufacturer may buy it back from you, recondition it and then sell it on or donate it themselves to someone in need. This happens quite often, particularly with stairlift suppliers.

Donating used aids

You may wish to donate the aid or piece of equipment. If you wanted it to be used for the benefit of someone else with MS then you could try offering it to one of the many therapy centres dotted up and down the country.

Some of the organisations that are part of the Neuro Therapy Network specifically support people with MS and others support people with a range of neurological issues.

It may also be worth offering the equipment through your local Deaf and Disabled People’s User led Organisation. Below is a list of the known organisations across the UK.

Warrington Disability Partnership

This is a user-led charity with over 30 years’ experience of developing and delivering mobility and independent living services. They have a scheme called LovedB4 which recovers, recycles and reuses mobility aids and restores and services them so they can be used by their Shopmobility and independent living equipment loan services. Surplus goods are sold on at affordable prices to people in need.

If you wanted to offer your item locally there are often local ‘association of voluntary services’, ‘council for voluntary services’ or similarly named organisations that support districts, boroughs, or regional charitable infrastructure. These charities are usually membership organisations and provide support for small local charities and often delver direct services themselves. These ‘hub’ charities will usually have directories of small, local charities and community groups.

Most of these local charities are members of the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA). NAVCA have a useful interactive map on their ‘find a member’ webpage to help you source the local charitable organisation supporting your local voluntary sector.

The Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NIVCA)

is a membership body for the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland. They have a range of websites including ‘Community NI’ which is a large community and voluntary services directory covering Norther Ireland.

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)

is the membership organisation for the voluntary sector in Scotland. They have over 2,700 member organisations made up of social enterprises, charities and voluntary groups. They have a ‘member directory’ to help you find charitable organisations in Scotland.

Some local Salvation Army branches will accept donations of second-hand wheelchairs, so it is worth speaking with your local church, charity shop or service.
Although you wouldn’t be able to donate a wheelchair to their charity shops (for hygiene reasons), the British Red Cross Mobility Aids Service might be accept wheelchair donations. You can call them on 0300 456 1914 to speak to their team.

If you are in Scotland you may be able to use Wheels to Heal. This is an award-winning charity that prevents mobility and independent living aids from going to landfill. Wheels to heal donates and ships the aids to developing countries where only ten percent of disabled people that need a wheelchair have access to one.

Also in Scotland is the Recycle Mobility Centre. This is a not-for-profit social enterprise that offers a quality service refurbishing and repairing all types of mobility equipment and sells them at an affordable price to those who can least afford to buy new equipment.

Selling your equipment

Whilst there is a trend to reuse and recycle, you may not be surprised to know that businesses and organisations have emerged to help you sell and rehome used items of independent living aids and equipment. Some organisations will buy directly from you and some will act as a specialist marketplace to match you with buyers that are in need of your particular aid or piece of equipment. There are also general non specialist buying and selling web spaces such as Gumtree, Preloved, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and where ever else you see small advertisements for private sales (such as the Exchange and Mart or locally delivered magazines and papers).

The Disability Equipment Service is a website that provides a service to help buy and sell items of used disability equipment. They say on their website that they are often contacted by people with equipment they either haven’t the time to sell or room to store. Often this equipment is in perfect order and too good to throw away. The Disability Equipment Service will do their best to rehome the equipment. Proceeds from donated equipment goes towards the running costs of the Disability Equipment Service website and they give twenty five percent of the funds raised to charity.

Skiggle is a charity that has been set up by parents of someone with profound and multiple disabilities. Skiggle run an online marketplace where people can safely rehome and distribute disability care products and equipment.

The Mobility Market is a business that has a web-based platform that enables individuals and businesses to buy and sell used or reconditioned disability aids and equipment. They charge a nominal fee to advertise.

Mobility Buyers is a business that says that it makes selling used or unwanted disability equipment easy. You upload pictures and details of the equipment you want to sell and then they will send you a quote/offer. If you accept their offer, they will arrange collection and make a payment to you.