Trailer and equipment stolen from Wakefield Whirlwinds Wheelchair Basketball Club

A trailer full of specialised wheelchairs belonging to the Wakefield Whirlwinds Wheelchair Basketball Club was stolen last week - leaving members distraught.

The Ifor Williams trailer was parked up overnight in a locked compound at Featherstone Sports Centre.

And it disappeared sometime between Wednesday and Friday evening.

Police are in the process of studying CCTV to try and establish the identity of the thieves.

Head coach Steve Greatorex said: “We are a wheelchair basketball club with about 70 active members but we also do a lot of outreach work in schools and community groups.

“We have a stock of club chairs that we take to these events and we use the trailer to transport them.

“A number of schools are going to be disappointed as we won’t be able to go now.”

Mum Rachel Hill, whose 12-year-old son Tommy is a member of the club said: “There are no words to describe how this feels, the trailer was new, purchased by fundraising and the sheer hard work and determination of the club.

“As well as the outreach work it’s used to transport the chairs to and from games across the country as some of our members are professional players.

“The wheelchairs are specialised basketball wheelchairs that will be useless to whoever has them so we are asking people to keep a look out for a stack of wheelchairs that might have been dumped somewhere.

“For some of these young people it is all they have, for some of these families it’s the focus of their week, the only single bit of respite they get - so please help us to find the chairs.”

Wakefield Whirlwinds

Wakefield Whirlwinds Wheelchair Basketball Club is a sports club for those who have a physical disability which makes it difficult for them to take part in other sports.

The club runs two teams in the National League; one in the Women’s League; one under 18s mixed team and two teams which compete in the UKWB league.

The club has had to regularly fund-raise to pay for the upkeep of its 60 wheelchairs, which can cost anywhere from £1,000 and £5,000 each.

Anyone with any information about the theft should contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers, in confidence, on 0800 111 555.