Focus on Oswestry

The Midland Centre for Spinal Injuries (MCSI) at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust)

Key facts

• 44 beds
• 12 Wheelchair Skills sessions per year

Chris – Outreach and Support Coordinator

How did you first get involved with Back Up?

Other than attending a wheelchair skills session as a patient at Stoke Mandeville, I applied for a job with Back Up in 2017 and haven’t looked back since.

What is your current role?

I’m an O&S Coordinator.

What is your proudest achievement at this centre?

Building great relationships, making sure Back Up are there every eight weeks to ensure as many people as possible can benefit from our services.

What is the biggest challenge or frustration facing you at this centre?

Getting participants to skills sessions on time can be tricky, it can be hard to hear in the sports hall – I’m really picking at things here, the centre is great!

If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing, what would it be?

To always make it sunny on skills extra days so make sure we can push out to the café and get a decent slice of cake!

Stuart Wheeler – Volunteer Wheelchair Skills Trainer

How did you get involved with Back Up?

I got signposted to them after my hospital re-admittance in 1999. I went on a couple of courses, and then was approached to volunteer developing their new wheelchair skills project.

What is your current role?

I’m a volunteer wheelchair skills trainer, mostly at Oswestry.

What is your proudest achievement at this centre?

Developing the peer-support wheelchair skills training including the wheelchair skills extra – this as Back Up employee.

What is the biggest challenge or frustration facing you at this centre?

The M6.