Start serving for and with disabled people
We're always looking for people with a heart to serve disabled people who could start an initiative in their church/community, or volunteer to work with an established one. If you're interested in exploring the idea, please get in touch with the office for a chat - either follow this link to email us, or call on 01372 749955.
About DCF Groups
Disabled Christians Fellowship groups provide fellowship, support and a safe space where those with a disability can use their gifts and talents in service. Some are closely associated with a local church, but all are inter-denominational, serving disabled Christians from a variety of local churches. The hope is for disabled people to seek support in DCF but for everyone to also integrate into church life.
Groups bring people together from the local community regularly, creating a bond of friendship and fellowship. Typically, a group meeting would contain worship, a Christian message, prayer and, of course, a chat and some refreshments. Helpers are gathered from local churches, and Groups can usually provide transport to and from the meeting when required. The groups reach out into the community, educating churches about disability and access issues and are a positive way of serving disabled people and integrating them into church life.
Prayer Support
If you would like prayer, or to pray for others, we have a weekly prayer email and opportunity to connect with online prayers led by one of our Roofbreakers…
Prayer Email
Once a week, we send out an email containing prayer requests for the work of Through the Roof, as well as requests submitted by friends and supporters of the charity. If you'd like something included on the email, please follow this link to email us, and let us know what you'd like mentioned.
If you'd like to sign up to receive the email, then please follow this link.
Online Prayers
We are delighted that one of our Roofbreakers, Lynda (pictured), is posting regular day- and night-time online prayers. These are available for anyone who would like to connect with them and we trust they will be a real source of encouragement.
Lynda’s prayers are known as ‘Prayer4all’ and can be found on YouTube through the following link: https://www.youtube.com/@prayer4all
Hearts in Transformation
A six-part Bible study exploring Biblical encouragement for those living with disability. The session look at identity, service, and ways to live. It is our hope that your time in God’s word through this study will not only impact your life as you live with your own or your child’s disability, but will equip you to minister to others you meet who are working through similar circumstances.
Individual Pastoral Support
Are you a disabled person struggling with life and in need of someone to listen? Perhaps you have lost a friend or are anxious and would like someone to talk to? We are delighted that two Christian Pastors, with counselling skills, and experience of living with disability, kindly offer a listening ear through telephone support to the TTR family. Places are limited, but if you would like to speak to someone, please call the office on 01372 749955 or email us by following this link, and we’ll put you in touch.
(Photo shows Anne speaking at our Edinburgh Disability Inclusion in our Churches event on 29th Feb)
20th Anniversary Celebration Service
We invite you to join us at a special Celebration Service on Saturday 9th September 2017, as we give thanks to God for His faithfulness, goodness and provision throughout twenty years of Through the Roof.
The service starts at 3.00pm and we are blessed to welcome Rev Jonathan Edwards as our main speaker. Jonathan will share his wisdom and experience as a former leader of the Baptist Union, church minister and Dad to an adult son with autism. He’ll inspire, encourage and challenge us to see the value of every person created by God
Blind worship leader, Thuy Mallalieu, will sensitively lead us into God’s presence through times of sung worship.
Light refreshments and a TTR Anniversary cake will be served from 4.30pm when you can catch up with old friends and meet new ones and everyone who attends will receive a souvenir booklet and pen.
The service takes place at St George’s Christian Centre, Barnett Wood Lane, Ashtead, KT21 2DA. Follow this link for the answers to many Frequently Asked Questions, and register your interest on margaret@throughtheroof.org or 01372 749955.
Get Involved with International Roofbreakers
Philippa, part of our mission team, shared her own experience of life as a totally blind person with a group of parents in a remote village in Guatemala, Central America’s poorest country. She recounted the story of John chapter 9 where the disciples ask Jesus whether the blind man had sinned or his parents. Jesus affirmed that he wasn’t blind because of sin, but that God’s good works could be shown in him. Disability isn’t a punishment or curse from God – a very different message to what people usually hear. The tears streamed down the face of one Mum with her young blind son. She was hearing (probably for the first time) that it wasn’t her fault that her son was born blind.
You can help change hearts and minds like Philippa! Join one of our International Roofbreaker teams as we train church leaders, parents and others in developing countries about disability from a Christian perspective.
Our International Roofbreaker programme relies on donations and volunteers to run - we'd love for you to get involved, either in the UK or on an overseas trip. Get in touch, and be part of transforming lives.
Fundraising
Could you support us by organising an event, celebration, or sponsorship to raise funds for the work of International Roofbreakers? Follow this link to find out ways to help raise funds.
International Roofbreakers Mission Trips
Are you a leader in a local church, someone able to teach with authority, or do you have a revelation of God's heart to see all his people included into the life of the church: particularly those who are disabled and most likely to be excluded?
We are looking for mature Christian teachers to spread a vision of inclusion and encouragement for disabled people. Follow this link for details of applying
International Roofbreaker events
During one of our mission trips to Mozambique, we learnt about a family with a severely disabled child. Shockingly, they had been told by others in their local community to sacrifice the child to appease God. Another family was criticised by neighbours for not killing their disabled child to bring ‘the suffering to an end’. Thankfully, the church had stepped in with love and compassion, sharing the Gospel, and counselling these families to care for, and value, their children. But such tragic misunderstandings continue to happen throughout the world.
To change these negative attitudes to disability, our International Roofbreakers project facilitates events (training seminars and conferences) to equip churches in developing countries with a Christian perspective on disability, helping them to be fully inclusive, so everyone is valued. The International Roofbreaker events often follow a year or so after a Wheels for the World mission in a community - so we can provide pastoral and spiritual support for the disabled people who received wheelchairs and mobility aids from Through the Roof.
What happens at International Roofbreaker events?
At these events, our UK mission teams join with local teams to help church communities and local leaders understand the physical, cultural, and spiritual barriers that disabled people encounter, and show them how God sees them, encouraging them to engage with the disabled people in their communities and beyond. We rely on donations and volunteers to run please consider donating to support this work by following this link.
We want to stand side-by-side with local churches and groups to journey together and resource each one to enable disabled people to be involved in church life and grow closer to Jesus.
The church is God’s vehicle for changing lives, and it needs to be equipped, empowered and resourced to include disabled people fully in all aspects throughout the world. The Bible says that each one of us has a part to play within the Body of the church. The need is seen more than ever in developing countries, where disabled people are often seen as cursed and kept out of churches and community events due to misunderstandings about God creating and valuing disabled people.
Can I get involved with International Roofbreaker events?
Roofbreakers are disability champions, inspired by the example in Luke 5 of the friends who empowered their paralysed friend to meet Jesus. International Roofbreakers are volunteers who share a message of church disability inclusion in countries outside of the UK, so disabled people are valued. Roofbreakers encourage churches to recognise that where disabled people are fully involved, not just as members of the congregation, but actively using their gifts and skills in church life, everyone is blessed as a result.
We do this work in developing countries by providing training and support for local partners that fits their cultural context - in churches, church groups, schools or other settings. We aim to help educate, empower and equip volunteer Roofbreakers to serve their communities and give them a new outlook on disabled people’s potential.
These are events where the good news of the gospel is proclaimed, God’s love is displayed, and cultural stigmas, spiritual strongholds and other barriers confronted, while disabled people themselves tell how God is working in their lives. At these events we also endeavour to visit those who received mobility aids the previous year, to see how they are getting on, but also to see what other needs they might have.
If this vision excites you, then you can be a part of it! Maybe you are someone who can teach the bible or loves to listen to the stories of those who are disabled, whose lives God has transformed. Or you might have experience of photography or drama? You may also be disabled and would like to testify of God’s goodness in your own life to lift those who don’t yet know Christ and are burdened by their disability.
We are looking for anyone who is mission-minded to be part of this work. Follow this link for a list of planned International Roofbreaker trips. Or email international@throughtheroof.org for more information.
Get Involved with Wheels for the World
Otwao has Cerebral Palsy and lives in Uganda. Although he can see and hear, he is unable to move his body. Like so many disabled children in Africa, he is hidden away. He and his mother live on their own in a reed hut. She goes to work every day and used to carry Otwao on her back, but since he’s grown too large for her to carry, she has had to leave him at home, lying alone on a cold floor until she returns in the evening. Otwao arrived at our Distribution Centre with his mother hoping for a wheelchair. Our team assessed him and gave him a wheelchair fitted for his size. Otwao can now enjoy company and freedom with her again.
You can be involved in changing the lives of some of the most needy people in the world, like Otwao! Have a look at the following ways of joining with us…
The work of Wheels for the World is entirely supported by donations and volunteers. Whether you choose to help out on a trip, raise vital funds, or support us in the UK, thank you!
Fundraising
Could you support us by organising an event, celebration, or sponsorship to help raise funds for Wheels for the World?
- Contact us to find out about fundraising. Or link to our Just Giving page for a sponsored activity.
- Following this link to download a sponsor form or by contact the office for a copy in the post.
In the UK
- We need regular help repairing, cleaning and maintaining wheelchairs in our Aldershot storage unit, where volunteers meet, usually a Wednesday. These volunteers need a degree of mechanical savvy. If you're happy repairing or maintaining a bike, you'll be fine!
- From time to time, we need help loading up the container for overseas trips. This usually takes about two hours on a weekday morning in Aldershot, and involves shifting a lot of wheelchairs. If you let us know you're interested, we'll get in touch when the day's coming up.
- We need occasional drivers to pick up or transport wheelchairs. You'll need to be able to drive a large van, and be happy to take the drive from time to time (days are negotiable)
On Trips
Wheels for the World Roles
These are the key functions on a ‘Wheels for the World’ distribution. Please let us know the role in which you have an interest and your experience in that particular type of role:
Wheelchair seating: Requires experience of identifying needs and fitting suitable wheelchairs and ability to demonstrate the proper handling of a wheelchair, pressure control, transfers etc for recipient and family members.
Mechanic: Requires mechanical skills and ability to work closely with seating specialists and to customise wheelchairs if necessary.
Administrator: Requires a detail-oriented, good communicator to handle all of the paperwork associated with the distribution. Keeping track of team finances, performing administrative support role for the Team Leader.
Speaker/Teacher: Requires knowledge of biblical issues regarding disability and practical knowledge of disability/church related issues. Will teach about disability awareness, developing ministry and services for and with people with disabilities to various audiences, small groups and one-on-one. Must be flexible and sensitive to meeting needs of encouragement and education as identified by national contacts.
Photography: Requires someone to make a comprehensive photo record of the distribution, each of the recipients who receive a chair and also a video record of the distribution.
Look at the list of our planned international missions and read more about what volunteering on a mission trip would involves in our New Volunteers Guide.
To volunteer or find out more about any of these opportunities, email Shaun@throughtheroof.org
Donating Wheelchairs and Funds
Getting a wheelchair to us
Thank you for thinking of donating a chair or mobility aid to Wheels for the World! Unfortunately, we can't usually pick up chairs, but we're very glad to receive them at our Aldershot warehouse (follow this link for the warehouse address) or take in occasional individual chairs at our Morden office. Please call us on 01372 749955 or email the office on info@throughtheroof.org to make sure that there's space, and that we'll have someone around to open up.
We can accept, and would love to have…
- children’s wheelchairs
- wheelchair cushions
- manual collapsible wheelchairs (not electric/power wheelchairs)
- crutches (in pairs and undamaged)
- walking sticks
- undamaged folding walkers (three- or four-wheel)
- Bibles
- buggies
- children’s car seats in good condition (we use these for wheelchair seating - not in cars)
- straps and harnesses
- gaffa tape.
We’re only able to repair wheelchairs, so if there’s any damage or bending to crutches or folding walkers, we unfortunately can’t take them.
We regret that we can’t accept...
- electric wheelchairs; books; medical equipment; orthotic equipment; piedro boots; broken equipment; blankets; positioning equipment; or children’s toys.
We’re always happy to answer queries about donations, so please follow this link to email the office, and we’ll be happy to advise you.
Donating Funds
Please contact the office or visit our donations page ( Follow this link to our donations page) to support us financially. We run a wheelchair sponsorship scheme where £46 will help cover the costs of refurbishing a wheelchair and changing the life of a recipient in a developing country. Download a sponsorship form by following this link or by contacting...
- The TTR office on 01372 749955 or info@throughtheroof.org
We're also very happy to have been supported in the past by corporate donations of money and time. If your workplace is interesting in partnering with TTR, we'd love to hear from you.