0800 0556377 / 01803 872 020Opening Hours

Mon - Fri
8:30am to 7pm
Sat
9am to 5pm
Sun
10am to 4pm
Basket - £0.00

You have no items in your shopping basket.

 

Welcome to UK Wheelchairs - the home of value and quality

Roma wheelchairs survive Invictus Games

Prince Harry's Invictus Games prove to be a big success for all involved including wheelchair manufacturer Roma who are based in Bridgend in Wales.

A total of 44 Roma wheelchairs were used during basketball and rugby matches at Prince Harry's Invictus Games and were surely tested to their limit surviving the most brutal of crashes and colisions.

Innovative Roma Wheelchairs made in Wales

Roma have been making wheelchairs for many many years and are one of the few manufacturers left in the UK. Their innovative design team have built a number of specialist sports wheelchairs at the request of the games' officials. Basketball and rugby demand models that will withstand the harshest of use so the team put their heads fown and came up with these models in the 6 week timeframe as requested.

Once built the games commenced and the technicians who designed and built the chairs travvelled across the atlantic to be pitchside during the games in case of any technical emergencies.

Orlando hosted the first Invictus Games which is an international sporting event, dreamed up by Prince Harry, for wounded, injured or sick servicemen and women. For manufacturer Roma it was an exciting opportunity to create brand new sports wheelchairs knowing that they will ehlp the games and its competitors.

Simon Dalton, managing director of Roma Sport, said: “We were at the side of the pitch all the time.Due to the nature of the game we had to be ready to run onto the pitch if any tyres got punctured, for example.We also had to make sure the athletes were in the right chair for them".

“Some had a spinal injury and so we had to put in extra strapping. “We made sure they were all comfortable with their chairs and given the right ones for them.”

Like the BMW designed wheelchair, Roma too have the technology for making body wrapping seats however the wheelchairs for the Invicta games were to be used by a number of different athletes preventing the use of bespoke seats. They have worked with many different materials, all loightweight and strong, including titanium, aluminium, and testing the possible use of magnesium - the ultimate lightweight metal.

Roma sports wheelchairs for basket ball and Rugby

Simon added: “The rugby wheelchairs had to be very robust because they take such a hammering. They are involved in crashes and collisions which is all part of the game.

“As basketball is more of a non-contact sport the chair needs more agility and has to have a lighter frame.We didn’t have to do any repairs to our chairs during the matches.“When you see some of the hits and crashes you wonder what will happen but we were very pleased with the chairs and they stood up to the job".

“The games are so inspiring to see and it’s great that they have this opportunity.“We feel honoured to have been asked to be part of this and being there was a fantastic experience.”

We're proud to supply Roma chairs and even better that they are made within the UK! See our Roma wheelchair range here

 

Leave a Reply