Legs4Africa

Legs4Africa is a British registered charity. It collects used prosthetic legs, which under EU law cannot be re-used in the United Kingdom,[2] and ships them to African countries such as The Gambia, Senegal, Tanzania, where they can be modified for, and used by, amputees and land mine victims.

Legs4Africa
Formation12 March 2014 (2014-03-12)
FounderTom Williams
Founded atUnited Kingdom
TypeRegistered charity
HeadquartersArnesby, Leicestershire
Budget
£48,402[1]
Websitelegs4africa.org

History

Legs4Africa was founded in 2014 by Tom Williams; the registered address is in Arnesby, in Leicestershire.[1][3] In 2014, the charity raised £6000 with a Crowdfunder campaign.[4] In April 2014, Legs4Africa sent a van carrying about 500 used prosthetic legs to The Gambia.[5][3] They were donated to the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul, where prostheses were particularly needed for victims of land mines and diabetes.[5] Another 1000 were sent to The Gambia in January 2015[3] and in June 2016 about 500 were shipped to Tanzania.[2][6]

As of September 2019, Legs4Africa has shipped enough components to construct 5,700 prosthesis at medical centres in 10 nations in Africa.[7]

Operations

Prosthesis are collected from a variety of different sources in the UK, the majority of which come from NHS trusts. As of 2019, Legs4Africa has an ongoing relationship with 32 NHS trusts which supply the organization with used prosthesis.[8][9] Some NHS trusts encourage their staff to put prosthesis aside for collection[2] and promote the organization's work at their centres.[10] Legs4Africa also receives donations from the families of deceased amputees which account for 30 percent of donations.[11]

Initially, the organization delivered prosthesis in whole. In 2019, Legs4Africa partnered with Men's sheds, where the donated prosthesis are dismantled before shipment.[7]

References
  1. "Charity Report". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  2. Goodchild, Sophie (14 September 2016). "'Back on my feet': how artificial limbs can have a second life in Africa". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  3. Mack, Tom (22 January 2015). "Legs4Africa ships another 1,000 artificial limbs to Africa". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  4. Marrins, Kirsty (5 December 2014). "From potato salad to prosthetic limbs: five offbeat charity crowdfunding campaigns". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  5. "Project collects 500 used prosthetic legs for Gambia". BBC News. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  6. Miller, Tracey (15 April 2016). "Charity sends prosthetic legs from Bristol to Africa". BBC News. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  7. Shanks, David (19 September 2019). "Men's shed sends prosthetic legs to Africa". BBC News. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  8. Shibli, Aliya (24 May 2019). "Ross-on-Wye helps Africa back on its feet". The Ross Gazette. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  9. Davis, Krishan (2 May 2017). "A huge shipment of prosthetic legs is on its way out of Bristol". Bristol Post. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  10. "Amputee teenager to donate old prosthetics to Africa". ITV News. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  11. Voinea, Anca (6 June 2019). "Southern Co-op funeralcare branches donate prosthetics to charity Legs4Africa". Co-operative Press. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
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