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A loose wheel, broken armrest, or flat tyre could mean missed appointments, lost work, and reduced access to the community.
That’s why An Mheitheal Rothar started the DIY Wheelchair Repair Project: to restore independence through teaching wheelchair users, their family, friends and the wider community, simple repairs and proactive maintenance.
The goal of this project is simple but powerful: to empower manual wheelchair users and their family/carers with the knowledge and confidence to maintain their own manual wheelchairs, reducing reliance on external repair services and strengthening independence.
So far, they’ve run seven in-person workshops and reached over 80 people, created an online wheelchair repair resource for those who want to access the workshop at home, and developed a toolkit of general tools to support everyday wheelchair maintenance and simple repairs.
These workshops have strengthened participants’ confidence and independence, giving individuals the skills to perform safety checks and carry out repairs on their own wheelchairs – we hope this is only the start.
During the project they spoke with Anne, a wheelchair user from County Dublin. She described the realities of daily life – what she does when her wheelchair breaks and how accessibility problems in the community cause damage, including unreliable public transport, uneven surfaces on paths and roads, and cars parked where they shouldn’t obstruct routes.
You can watch Anne’s account in this video.
Helping to reduce stress on Wheelchair Users
Looking ahead, An Mheitheal Rothar have clear hopes for the project’s future: expanded repair services so people don’t have to be without their chairs for days or weeks; more mobile repair teams that can come to users’ homes to fix chairs on the spot; and systems to repair and repurpose second‑hand wheelchairs instead of sending them to landfill.
These small changes would reduce stress on wheelchair users and increase safety and dignity.
If you would like to learn some simple wheelchair repairs, visit our DIY Wheelchair Repair Online Resource
The organisation would like to thank everyone who took part in their workshops for their time, feedback and enthusiasm.
Big thanks also to Anne for sharing her story, to University of Galway, Irish Wheelchair Association Ballybrit and Irish Wheelchair Association Roscommon for hosting the workshops and ReThink Ireland for funding this project.