Back-Up Trust

What does The Back-Up Trust do to help?

Back-Up does not think it is enough to tell a newly paralysed person what they are still capable of. We provide the environment, support and opportunity for people to prove it to themselves.

Back-Up's year round programme of activity courses and events are not disabled holidays, but challenging, integrated courses for able-bodied and spinally injured people.

The courses give people back the self-belief, motivation and independence, which spinal cord
injury takes away. The results are inspirational and life changing.

How does The Back-Up Trust operate?

Back-Up is an energetic, up-beat charity, motivated by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we receive from our participants.

All our courses are fully integrated with equal numbers of paralysed participants and able bodied volunteer "buddies".

Back-Up works closely with the other charities for spinally injured people and the UK hospitals which have specialist spinal injury units, such as Stoke Mandeville.

To maximise the number of spinally injured people we help and keep our costs to a minimum, Back-Up employs only a small staff team and relies heavily on the assistance of volunteers, many of whom are former beneficiaries, in all areas of its work.

Back-Up receives no government or statutory funding and depends entirely on voluntary contributions and the fundraising efforts of our supporters to survive.

 How did The Back-Up Trust first begin?

The Back-Up Trust was founded in 1986 by Mike Nemesvary, a tetraplegic and former British and European Freestyle Champion and James Bond stunt double, whose life was devastated after he broke his neck during a workout on a trampoline in the mid 1980's. Despite being paralysed from the shoulders down, he was determined to get back to the life he enjoyed. An appeal was launched and, thanks to its success, the charity was set up to help others in a similar position.