Getting People Walking Again
We are the charity that is getting people walking again in sub-Saharan Africa.
Through re-purposing prosthetic legs that would otherwise end up in landfills, and facilitating amputee-led community groups we are giving thousands of people a year the ultimate leg-up.
Collecting Prosthetic Legs
In many parts of the world, prosthetic legs cannot be re-used or recycled. This means that every year thousands of legs end up in landfills. By working with limb centres, manufacturers and the general public we can stop this from happening.
We collect legs from individual donors and limb centres across the UK, France, Canada, Australia and the USA. Since 2014, we have saved over 10,000 legs from a life in landfill.
Do you have a leg that you would like to donate?
Dismantling and servicing legs
The prosthetic legs that we receive are dismantled and serviced by groups of retired gentlemen through a partnership with Rotary Clubs and Men’s Shed – an international charity that builds community spaces for men to connect, converse, and create. Encouraging retired gentlemen to take part in practical activities together helps to reduce loneliness and social isolation.
We choose to dismantle the legs before sending them to sub-Saharan African hospitals for three main reasons:
- It allows us to send more legs in our shipments - whole legs can take up a lot of space.
- It allows us to check and service each individual part so we can ensure they are safe for reuse.
- It allows us to send the specific parts that centres need.
“In the first 6 months of working together we have dismantled about 300 legs – we think Legs4Africa is having a job to keep up with us!”
Mervyn Bishop – Men’s Shed, Warmley
Delivering Legs
Once the parts are serviced and ready for delivery we box them up and send them out to our partner mobility centres across sub-Saharan Africa. We ensure each centre has the expertise and the resources needed to utilise the parts we send.
Boxes of prosthetic leg parts and other materials like stump socks are delivered by door-to-door courier services. This allows us to get legs out to even the most remote areas in the most marginalised communities.
Since 2014, we have delivered enough parts to build or repair over 10,000 prosthetic legs.
Join the Journey and see where your legs have traveled
Improving Services
Meet the four ladies currently studying at TATCOT and learn why it’s important for female amputees to work in the sector.
As well as providing prosthetic leg parts, we also aim to enhance services for amputees in sub-Saharan Africa through improving access to training opportunities, tools and resources for hospitals and individuals trying to break into the prosthetics and orthotics sector.
We work closely with hospital partners to assess their needs and work out what equipment and technology they need in order to better support the amputees in their communities.
We also offer scholarships and bursaries to individuals who wish to train to be prosthetists or technicians. Currently, we have one Gambian individual training at the OTC in Ghana, and four female amputees enrolled on the One Year Certificate Course in Lower-Limb Prosthetics Technology at the Tanzania Training Centre for Orthopedic Technologists (TATCOT).
Building Community Groups
We help to set up amputee-led community groups and encourage individuals to come together to work through the trauma of limb loss.
The Gambian Amputee Association (GAA) which was set up in 2016 has over 100 members and it’s own amputee football team. A separate group for female amputees in The Gambia has also been set up - they meet to offer peer-support, share skills and brainstorm ideas for income generation.
We also work closely with in-country Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs) like The Amputee Self Help Network (ASNU) in Kampala, Uganda - helping to fund their peer support and disabled persons advocacy work.
Providing Online Resources
Care4Legs is a rich and growing resource for people suffering from limb loss to access and learn about the best practices of self-care.
Why not try Care4Legs yourself?
Text 'Hello' via WhatsApp to +447960044438
We’ve also developed a knowledge base for the African Prosthetics community to get up to date industry best practices and share ideas.
