Wheelchairs For Kids Australia – Our Home

By Jim Joseph

It’s a dream come true for our management team and wider community of volunteers to announce that we have secured ideal premises to accommodate our growing organisation.

After 22 years managing progressively in one to four rented and often cramped workshops, we received a generous mortgage loan from long-term supporters, Bill and Iolanda Gibbins, from Victoria. This to the value of AU$2M. We then purchased an ideal property. This was followed by an unbelievable donation 6 months later from long term donors, Bill and Eileen Doyle of Katherine, who paid out the complete mortgage. We now own a new factory facility and headquarters, located in Wangara, Western Australia.

Fitted out with top of the range manufacturing equipment, our new 1,422 square metre building is situated on a 4,804 square metre commercial landholding which gives us the advantages of a larger working space under one roof, plus ample parking and dedicated break area, modern offices, kitchen and a conference room.

What’s more, it signals the start of an exciting new chapter for Wheelchairs For Kids – with a secure, long-term base and enhanced facilities enabling us to get on with what we do best: building and distributing rough-terrain wheelchairs to WHO standards.

Many hands make light work

Over 4 months, our network of volunteers have had their hands busy conducting comprehensive remedial work on the space, including floor resurfacing, electrical supplementation work, touch-up painting, brickwork repairs, landscaping the garden, arranging the new workstations, shifting the office computer and security systems and much more. Their passion and dedication to helping WFK transition into our new home during what has been a difficult year has been both humbling and awe-inspiring to watch and, quite simply, we would not be here without them.

We also must extend our deepest gratitude to the companies who generously provided goods or services to help us move and refurbish our new premises at reduced or no cost, including Classic Hire, Kwik Cranes, Blackwater Engineering, Western Cleaning Services, Non-Ferrous Machining, Eden Rock Roller Doors, Perth Design and Construct, The Any Tow Towing Company, Home Integrity, Wanneroo Recycling, Coates Hire and Ascot Sign Company.

After an enforced hiatus due to COVID-19, we have resumed production at our new workshop and are excited to forge ahead with our mission of providing freedom and mobility to thousands of children living with disabilities around the globe.

Find out more about our wheelchairs and manufacturing process here.

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