Where to Donate Wheelchairs and Walkers Near Me

Published 5 March 2025 · Last updated 25 September 2026

Short answer: most of the big charity names will not take mobility equipment. Sue Ryder, Scope and the British Red Cross all say so on their own websites. The routes that do work are the NHS or council service that issued the equipment, a handful of specialist disability charities, and local reuse schemes. Which one applies depends on what you have and where you are, and this page sorts it by both.

What we checked, and what we found

In September 2026 we read the donation policy published by ten UK-wide charities and charity retail chains, plus NHS England’s national guidance and the return policies of three individual NHS trusts. We recorded what each one says in its own words rather than what it is assumed to do.

Two of the ten will take mobility equipment from the public, and both attach a condition that rules out the most common donation. PhysioNet asks for around 20 items per collection. Through the Roof takes manual wheelchairs but refuses electric ones and cannot usually collect. Three of the ten name mobility equipment only in order to refuse it.

That is the gap this page exists to close. The equipment is wanted. It is just not wanted by the organisations most people ring first.

The three things most people get wrong

The British Red Cross hires wheelchairs out. It does not take them in

This is the most common misunderstanding on the subject, and it comes from the Red Cross being genuinely well known for wheelchairs. Its wheelchair page says plainly: “Unfortunately, we cannot accept donations of mobility items in most of the UK.” There are three exceptions: Hampshire, Norfolk and Waveney, and Northern Ireland, where it says “mobility aid donations may be accepted” and asks you to ring the local wheelchair service.

What the Red Cross actually runs is a hire service: wheelchairs for anyone over five, in self-propelled, transit and bariatric versions, at £22 per week with no deposit, plus a £30 one-off delivery and collection fee. That is worth knowing in its own right if you need a chair for a few weeks. It is not a donation route. (British Red Cross wheelchair hire, checked September 2026.)

The big charity shops refuse mobility equipment on safety grounds

Sue Ryder is the most specific. Its “items we can’t accept” page lists, word for word, “any mobility equipment e.g. wheelchairs, wheeled walkers, mobility scooters, Zimmer frames, bath aids or hospital beds”. Scope is blunter still: “Scope does not accept equipment donations.”

Age UK’s charity shop page lists clothing, accessories, homeware, books and toys, and does not mention mobility equipment either way — its furniture shops set their own policy branch by branch, so the only reliable answer is to ring the shop. The British Heart Foundation refuses stair lifts by name on its “items we can’t accept” list, and does not mention wheelchairs or scooters at all. A riser-recliner chair might well be accepted as furniture, but the BHF does not say so, so ring the store before turning up with one.

The reason is the same in every case: once a charity sells you a wheelchair or a bath lift, it has placed a piece of equipment that people rely on to bear their weight. Checking, cleaning and certifying that is a different job from steaming a jacket.

There is no national NHS return scheme

If your equipment came from the NHS or social services, it is usually still theirs, and they want it back. But there is no single national number to ring. NHS England’s own guidance says only that “Trusts are encouraged to set up dedicated walking aid return and reuse schemes”, which means provision and return are arranged trust by trust and council by council.

In practice, community equipment across much of England and Wales is delivered and collected by two contractors working on behalf of councils and the NHS: Medequip and NRS Healthcare. Medequip’s site carries a standing offer to “Contact Medequip now to request a free collection at a time that suits you”. Brent Council, to take one worked example, tells residents that “NHS and social care equipment is currently collected by NRS Healthcare” and gives a direct number for it.

So the correct first move is to ring whoever issued the equipment — the hospital department, the occupational therapist, or the council’s community equipment service — and ask who collects. See our guide to NHS wheelchair services versus council community equipment if you are not sure which of the two supplied yours.

Who takes what: the ten national organisations we checked

Policies read on each organisation’s own website in September 2026. Charities change what they accept, and shop-level policy often differs from head office, so ring before you travel.

Where to donate, by equipment type

Mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs

This is the hardest category, and the one people most often give up on. Sue Ryder names mobility scooters as refused. Through the Roof refuses electric wheelchairs. Most charity shops have nowhere to store, test or charge one.

Three specialist schemes do take them, and all three say so explicitly:

• Wheels to Heal (Scottish charity SC048507) accepts electric wheelchairs and scooters on one condition: “Only electric wheelchairs/scooters that work can be accepted, although a flat battery is acceptable.” It also takes manual chairs, rollators, frames, crutches, commodes, shower chairs, beds and hoists, and offers a free uplift for larger donations.
• Mid Devon Mobility runs Recycle 2 Mobilise, which provides “a drop-off and collection service for all donated mobility equipment, including electric mobility scooters, wheelchairs, power chairs, and other disability aids”. Items are restored and resold cheaply to people on low incomes. It cannot take commodes or toilet seats unless brand new.
• Warrington Disability Partnership accepts “electric mobility scooters and wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs, crutches, wheeled and framed walkers”, offers collections and deliveries, and puts restored equipment into its own Shopmobility fleet and loan service.

PhysioNet accepts powered chairs too, and while it asks for around 20 items per collection it notes that high-value collections may still be possible — a working powerchair is worth asking about on those grounds.

Before you donate a scooter, take the charger, the key and the manual, and say honestly whether the batteries hold a charge. A scooter with dead batteries is still useful to a refurbisher. A scooter described as working that is not wastes a collection slot. If the scooter is beyond use, see our guide to selling mobility equipment, which covers scrap and parts value as well.

Manual wheelchairs

The easiest category. Through the Roof takes children’s and manual collapsible wheelchairs and cushions for its Wheels for the World programme, by drop-off to Aldershot or Morden after a phone call. PhysioNet takes them as part of a larger collection. Wheels to Heal, Mid Devon Mobility and Warrington Disability Partnership all take them. If the chair came from an NHS wheelchair service, return it there first — it is NHS property, and there is a waiting list behind it.

Crutches, walking frames and walking sticks

Go back to the hospital. NHS England’s guidance notes that “All walking aids available to purchase via the NHS Supply Chain catalogue are reusable”, and puts numbers on why it matters. If just two in every five walking aids were returned, “the average hospital could save up to £46k per year”, and a refurbished aid carries on average 98% lower carbon emissions than a new one.

Whether your local trust runs a scheme varies, and the detail matters more than you would expect.

• Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust takes metal walking sticks, metal frames and metal crutches, with collection bins in the fracture clinic and near the Discharge Lounge. It explicitly does not take wheelchairs, commodes or wooden walking sticks.
• Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals takes sticks, crutches and Zimmer frames plus shower chairs and commodes, returned to the main entrances. North West Surrey residents can also drop walking aids at participating libraries in Staines, Ashford, Chertsey, Egham, Shepperton, Stanwell and Sunbury.
• University Hospitals Sussex takes crutches, frames, sticks and other walking aids, routed through Millbrooke in Brighton and Hove and NRS in West Sussex.

If your trust has no scheme, Through the Roof takes undamaged crutches in pairs and walking sticks, and Wheels to Heal takes frames and crutches.

Bath lifts, shower chairs, commodes and toilet aids

Hardest to give away after powered equipment, because most schemes treat anything toilet-related as a hygiene risk. Mid Devon Mobility cannot take commodes or toilet seats unless brand new. DACT in Northamptonshire says the same: “Sorry we do Not accept Toilet Seats or Toilet Frames”. Wheels to Heal does take commodes and shower chairs. If the item came from a council occupational therapist, it will almost certainly be collected by Medequip or NRS — ring the council first.

Hospital beds, profiling beds and hoists

Too big for any charity shop and, in the case of hoists, subject to inspection requirements. Wheels to Heal accepts medical beds and hoists. Jacob’s Well Appeal in Beverley accepts “walking frames and unwanted mechanical beds”. Otherwise this is a council community equipment collection, and it is worth pressing for one, because these are the most expensive items to replace and the ones services most want back.

If none of the above fits: local reuse

Three routes are worth trying in order.

Ring your council’s community equipment service even if the item was bought privately. Some will take compatible equipment into the reuse stream; the worst answer is no.

Use the Reuse Network’s postcode finder. It covers around 200 reuse organisations and shows which item categories each accepts. Mobility aids are not on the Network’s own list, but individual member organisations often take them — the finder is how you discover the local scheme you had never heard of. Search at 10 miles or more, since it measures distance as the crow flies.

Offer it locally for free. Freegle is the UK-run option and the one to use here, because it matches givers and takers by postcode and everything on it is free. Equipment offered this way tends to go quickly, because the person collecting it usually needs it that week. Describe faults honestly and state the weight and folded size, since whoever comes has to get it into a car.

Local disability groups, Shopmobility schemes and Lions clubs are also worth a call. Hornsea District Lions, for instance, loans wheelchairs, walkers and frames on a £20 refundable deposit with no charge for the loan, and says its wheelchairs were donated by local people. There is no national Lions or Rotary equipment programme, so this is a question for your local club rather than a head office.

Going the other way: getting equipment without buying it

The same shortage that makes donation awkward makes second-hand equipment valuable, and several of the schemes above exist to pass it on.

• Mobility Trust “provides powered wheelchairs and scooters for UK residents who have severe disabilities and cannot obtain such equipment through other means”, and describes itself as the only UK charity offering that support regardless of age or cause of disability. It arranges an assessment and, where appropriate, funds the purchase. Applicants supply bank statements. It cannot fund boot scooters or powerchairs unless a boot hoist or ramp is already fitted.
• Shopmobility is not one national service but a name used by independently run local schemes, each with its own pricing. Chesterfield and District Shopmobility, for example, charges £10 a year for membership including insurance, then £3 for four hours or £6 for a full day for scooters, powerchairs and wheelchairs, and runs a buddy service for first-time scooter users. BCP Council runs schemes across Bournemouth and Poole. Ring your nearest town’s scheme for its own terms.
• Mid Devon Mobility and Warrington Disability Partnership both sell restored donated equipment cheaply, which is the direct payoff of the donations described above.
• The NHS and your council remain the first stop for anything you need long term. Our guides to wheelchair grants and grants for mobility scooters cover what is available before you pay for anything.

Before you hand anything over

• Clean it properly. Most schemes list cleanliness as a condition of acceptance. Wheels to Heal asks that items are “clean” and in working order or needing only minor repair.
• Include everything. Chargers, batteries, keys, harnesses, cushions, leg rests and manuals. PhysioNet asks specifically that accessories are “included and securely attached”. A powerchair without its charger is often unusable to the next person.
• Say what is wrong with it. Refurbishers can fix a lot and would rather know. A minor repair is welcome. An undisclosed fault is a wasted journey.
• Check it is yours to give. NHS and council equipment is loaned, not gifted, including after a bereavement. Returning it is the correct route and costs nothing.
• Ring first, always. Every scheme on this page says capacity and policy change. None of them wants equipment left outside a closed door.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I donate a wheelchair near me?

Start with whoever supplied it. If it was NHS or council equipment, ring them or their contractor, usually Medequip or NRS Healthcare, and ask for a collection. If you bought it yourself, Through the Roof takes manual chairs by drop-off in Aldershot or Morden, PhysioNet collects across mainland UK as part of a larger pickup, and regional schemes such as Wheels to Heal in Scotland, Mid Devon Mobility and Warrington Disability Partnership take them locally. The Reuse Network’s postcode finder will show smaller schemes near you.

Will charity shops take a wheelchair or a mobility scooter?

Usually not. Sue Ryder lists wheelchairs, wheeled walkers, mobility scooters, Zimmer frames, bath aids and hospital beds as items it cannot accept. Scope does not accept equipment donations at all. The British Heart Foundation refuses stair lifts and does not list mobility equipment as accepted. Age UK’s policy varies by shop. Always ring the individual shop rather than assuming.

Can I donate a mobility scooter to the British Red Cross?

No, in most of the UK. The Red Cross states that it cannot accept donations of mobility items in most of the country, with possible exceptions in Hampshire, Norfolk and Waveney, and Northern Ireland. It hires wheelchairs out rather than taking donations in.

What do I do with crutches I no longer need?

Return them to the hospital that issued them. Many NHS trusts run walking aid return schemes with collection bins in outpatient areas. Portsmouth takes metal crutches, sticks and frames but not wooden sticks. Ashford and St Peter’s also accepts them at participating Surrey libraries. If your trust has no scheme, Through the Roof takes undamaged crutches in pairs. Do not bin them: NHS England says even defective aids can be recycled as scrap metal.

Will the NHS take equipment back?

Yes, and it usually wants to, because most community equipment is loaned rather than given. There is no national return line, because NHS England only encourages trusts to set up their own schemes, so ring the department, occupational therapist or council service that issued it. In much of England the collection itself is carried out by Medequip or NRS Healthcare.

What will not be accepted anywhere?

Anything broken beyond minor repair, anything with a damaged frame or failed brakes, pressure cushions and mattresses past their service life, and in most schemes commodes and toilet seats unless brand new. Electric wheelchairs are refused by Through the Roof specifically, though Wheels to Heal, Mid Devon Mobility, Warrington Disability Partnership and PhysioNet all take powered equipment.

Can I sell it instead?

Yes, if it is genuinely yours. NHS and council equipment is not. Scope suggests a middle route: asking the buyer to donate to charity in return for the item, or donating the proceeds. Our guide to selling mobility equipment covers realistic prices and where to list.

What about equipment after a bereavement?

The same rules apply, and the NHS or council route is usually the simplest because they will collect. If the equipment was bought privately, PhysioNet’s collection service is designed for exactly this situation, because a house clearance often reaches its 20-item threshold where a single donation would not. There is no time pressure from the services themselves; ring when you are ready.

Is there anywhere that needs equipment abroad?

Yes. PhysioNet refurbishes donated equipment and distributes it to people who lack access to it, and Through the Roof’s Wheels for the World programme sends refurbished wheelchairs overseas. Both publish what they will and will not take, and both are worth contacting before arranging anything else, since overseas programmes can often use items that UK reuse schemes turn down.

Published 5 March 2025 · Last updated 25 September 2026