Aug 26, 2026 · 19 min · 9 segments
Back Up support people following spinal injury. Hear about their work from Mark Holland. https://www.backuptrust.org.uk/
Mark HollandGuest
James PiercyHost
They do wheelchair skills, which is one of our big services that we offer in the spinal units, which is exactly what it sounds.
Um, they go down to the sports stadium, and they teach newly injured people or not-
... anybody in a wheelchair with a spinal cord injury how to use their wheelchair safely and effectively.
And that's so important, isn't it? Because, uh, well, as in, in your case, many are like this, I guess, it's out of nowhere.
You're a completely different person with completely different capabilities, you know, in a moment, and why would you know how to safely use a wheelchair? You've probably never sat in one before.
And I guess there's, maybe there's an assumption that that's kind of easy, and people just get on with it, but clearly it, it's not.
So it's great that you have that kind of service, you know, to work with people and, and teach them, I guess, in some ways very basic things, but really important things.
You know, you don't know what you don't know, and we all sort of, you know, as a kid I was in my nan's wheelchair and, but I never really look back and think, "Oh, well I was all right in i- in my nan's wheelchair." It's such an invaluable experience to be involved in those wheelchair skill sessions because you learn so much from it.
Every- Obviously everybody's different, everybody's got different capabilities and different level of injuries, and-
And, and just being able to be taught how to push your chair one-handed or shown ...
And we all do it round the house, you know, whether that be cooking, you know, carrying a cold drink, hot drink to the sofa, you know, in a pub, getting a glass of wine or a pint.
And then going onto curbs, and going up curbs, and going down curbs safely, and how to be verbally independent if you can't do it on your own.
They do wheelchair skills, which is one of our big services that we offer in the spinal units, which is exactly what it sounds.
Um, they go down to the sports stadium, and they teach newly injured people or not-
... anybody in a wheelchair with a spinal cord injury how to use their wheelchair safely and effectively.
And that's so important, isn't it? Because, uh, well, as in, in your case, many are like this, I guess, it's out of nowhere.
You're a completely different person with completely different capabilities, you know, in a moment, and why would you know how to safely use a wheelchair? You've probably never sat in one before.
And I guess there's, maybe there's an assumption that that's kind of easy, and people just get on with it, but clearly it, it's not.
So it's great that you have that kind of service, you know, to work with people and, and teach them, I guess, in some ways very basic things, but really important things.
You know, you don't know what you don't know, and we all sort of, you know, as a kid I was in my nan's wheelchair and, but I never really look back and think, "Oh, well I was all right in i- in my nan's wheelchair." It's such an invaluable experience to be involved in those wheelchair skill sessions because you learn so much from it.
Every- Obviously everybody's different, everybody's got different capabilities and different level of injuries, and-
And, and just being able to be taught how to push your chair one-handed or shown ...
And we all do it round the house, you know, whether that be cooking, you know, carrying a cold drink, hot drink to the sofa, you know, in a pub, getting a glass of wine or a pint.
And then going onto curbs, and going up curbs, and going down curbs safely, and how to be verbally independent if you can't do it on your own.
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