How $275 turbocharged Olly Pickett's wheelchair mission for kids

The Advertiser

11-06-2025

If being named Senior Australian of the Year came as a surprise, it didn't prepare Brother Olly Pickett for what came after.
In the three days it took to return to Western Australia after the January ceremony in Canberra, $324,000 in donations had rolled into Wheelchairs for Kids, the charity the Christian Brother set up in 1998. And the money's been pouring in ever since.
Olly puts the response down to putting a dollar figure on transforming a child's life.
"Each of us was told to write a speech as if we'd won it," he explains of the awards process. Looking at a draft of Olly's speech, an awards organiser asked how much it cost for the charity to make a wheelchair.
"I said $275 and she said 'Make you sure you put that in your speech', which I did." After Olly's acceptance speech, donations of $275 rolled in from around the country. "It kept coming from Queensland, NSW, Victoria, all over, South Australia, everywhere. Intermingled among these $275 were donations of $10,000, $5000, $1000."
Those who tuned in to Olly's speech were clearly moved by the realisation that such a small amount of money could transform a child's life. Speaking from Perth, his passion for the charity he's run for 27 years is infectious. He's warm and kind and there's no hint of his dedication slowing with age.
Wheelchairs for Kids was the brainchild of a Rotarian who visited Fiji in the mid 1990s and was shocked to see disabled children isolated and floor-bound. Returning to Australia, he fashioned wheelchairs from old bicycle parts. Two years later the idea was taken up by the Rotary Club of Scarborough.
It approached Brother Olly who had set up a metal workshop to equip teens who had dropped out of mainstream schooling with skills. "That's where we first started to do the wheelchairs," Olly says.
From there, the charity grew. Its factory with 50 volunteers now makes 120 a week. These are shipped to communities in Africa, Asia as well as to remote areas in Australia.
"I can see the great benefit these kids are getting from having a wheelchair after sitting on the ground for so many years," Olly says. "They are able to get off the ground and have some dignity and mobility and get to school and play with their friends."
The volunteers also benefit, something recognised by the WA government, which helps fund Wheelchairs for Kids: "The reason they do that is for the wellbeing of the volunteers. It's a wonderful thing for the people to be able to come to this place and do something meaningful with people around them instead of sitting at home after they retire".
Olly says many great friendships have been formed on the factory floor: "Some of them have lost their husbands or wives or whatever and they make really nice friends with each other. If they have caravans they go away together, that sort of stuff. Or on cruises, But they always come back again".
Lives are enriched not only on the factory floor. Wheelchairs for Kids also involves elderly residents in aged care homes who knit and crochet rugs and soft toys which the charity distributes with its wheelchairs.
After Wheelchairs for Kids was given a national platform, Olly recognises the value of the Australian of the Year Awards: "I really hadn't taken much notice of them. You don't even think of these things because you just come to work every day and do what you do".
Until Olly spoke about his charity work at a reunion of former students: "A few of them came into our factory the next week and saw what was going on and they were pretty inspired. Then they put together a submission to Canberra and the rest is history".
Who inspires you? Who do you think should be our next Australian of the Year?
If you see them or hear about them, nominate them before July 31 for the 2026 Australian of the Year Awards at australianoftheyear.org.au.
If being named Senior Australian of the Year came as a surprise, it didn't prepare Brother Olly Pickett for what came after.
In the three days it took to return to Western Australia after the January ceremony in Canberra, $324,000 in donations had rolled into Wheelchairs for Kids, the charity the Christian Brother set up in 1998. And the money's been pouring in ever since.
Olly puts the response down to putting a dollar figure on transforming a child's life.
"Each of us was told to write a speech as if we'd won it," he explains of the awards process. Looking at a draft of Olly's speech, an awards organiser asked how much it cost for the charity to make a wheelchair.
"I said $275 and she said 'Make you sure you put that in your speech', which I did." After Olly's acceptance speech, donations of $275 rolled in from around the country. "It kept coming from Queensland, NSW, Victoria, all over, South Australia, everywhere. Intermingled among these $275 were donations of $10,000, $5000, $1000."
Those who tuned in to Olly's speech were clearly moved by the realisation that such a small amount of money could transform a child's life. Speaking from Perth, his passion for the charity he's run for 27 years is infectious. He's warm and kind and there's no hint of his dedication slowing with age.
Wheelchairs for Kids was the brainchild of a Rotarian who visited Fiji in the mid 1990s and was shocked to see disabled children isolated and floor-bound. Returning to Australia, he fashioned wheelchairs from old bicycle parts. Two years later the idea was taken up by the Rotary Club of Scarborough.
It approached Brother Olly who had set up a metal workshop to equip teens who had dropped out of mainstream schooling with skills. "That's where we first started to do the wheelchairs," Olly says.
From there, the charity grew. Its factory with 50 volunteers now makes 120 a week. These are shipped to communities in Africa, Asia as well as to remote areas in Australia.
"I can see the great benefit these kids are getting from having a wheelchair after sitting on the ground for so many years," Olly says. "They are able to get off the ground and have some dignity and mobility and get to school and play with their friends."
The volunteers also benefit, something recognised by the WA government, which helps fund Wheelchairs for Kids: "The reason they do that is for the wellbeing of the volunteers. It's a wonderful thing for the people to be able to come to this place and do something meaningful with people around them instead of sitting at home after they retire".
Olly says many great friendships have been formed on the factory floor: "Some of them have lost their husbands or wives or whatever and they make really nice friends with each other. If they have caravans they go away together, that sort of stuff. Or on cruises, But they always come back again".
Lives are enriched not only on the factory floor. Wheelchairs for Kids also involves elderly residents in aged care homes who knit and crochet rugs and soft toys which the charity distributes with its wheelchairs.
After Wheelchairs for Kids was given a national platform, Olly recognises the value of the Australian of the Year Awards: "I really hadn't taken much notice of them. You don't even think of these things because you just come to work every day and do what you do".
Until Olly spoke about his charity work at a reunion of former students: "A few of them came into our factory the next week and saw what was going on and they were pretty inspired. Then they put together a submission to Canberra and the rest is history".
Who inspires you? Who do you think should be our next Australian of the Year?
If you see them or hear about them, nominate them before July 31 for the 2026 Australian of the Year Awards at australianoftheyear.org.au.
If being named Senior Australian of the Year came as a surprise, it didn't prepare Brother Olly Pickett for what came after.
In the three days it took to return to Western Australia after the January ceremony in Canberra, $324,000 in donations had rolled into Wheelchairs for Kids, the charity the Christian Brother set up in 1998. And the money's been pouring in ever since.
Olly puts the response down to putting a dollar figure on transforming a child's life.
"Each of us was told to write a speech as if we'd won it," he explains of the awards process. Looking at a draft of Olly's speech, an awards organiser asked how much it cost for the charity to make a wheelchair.
"I said $275 and she said 'Make you sure you put that in your speech', which I did." After Olly's acceptance speech, donations of $275 rolled in from around the country. "It kept coming from Queensland, NSW, Victoria, all over, South Australia, everywhere. Intermingled among these $275 were donations of $10,000, $5000, $1000."
Those who tuned in to Olly's speech were clearly moved by the realisation that such a small amount of money could transform a child's life. Speaking from Perth, his passion for the charity he's run for 27 years is infectious. He's warm and kind and there's no hint of his dedication slowing with age.
Wheelchairs for Kids was the brainchild of a Rotarian who visited Fiji in the mid 1990s and was shocked to see disabled children isolated and floor-bound. Returning to Australia, he fashioned wheelchairs from old bicycle parts. Two years later the idea was taken up by the Rotary Club of Scarborough.
It approached Brother Olly who had set up a metal workshop to equip teens who had dropped out of mainstream schooling with skills. "That's where we first started to do the wheelchairs," Olly says.
From there, the charity grew. Its factory with 50 volunteers now makes 120 a week. These are shipped to communities in Africa, Asia as well as to remote areas in Australia.
"I can see the great benefit these kids are getting from having a wheelchair after sitting on the ground for so many years," Olly says. "They are able to get off the ground and have some dignity and mobility and get to school and play with their friends."
The volunteers also benefit, something recognised by the WA government, which helps fund Wheelchairs for Kids: "The reason they do that is for the wellbeing of the volunteers. It's a wonderful thing for the people to be able to come to this place and do something meaningful with people around them instead of sitting at home after they retire".
Olly says many great friendships have been formed on the factory floor: "Some of them have lost their husbands or wives or whatever and they make really nice friends with each other. If they have caravans they go away together, that sort of stuff. Or on cruises, But they always come back again".
Lives are enriched not only on the factory floor. Wheelchairs for Kids also involves elderly residents in aged care homes who knit and crochet rugs and soft toys which the charity distributes with its wheelchairs.
After Wheelchairs for Kids was given a national platform, Olly recognises the value of the Australian of the Year Awards: "I really hadn't taken much notice of them. You don't even think of these things because you just come to work every day and do what you do".
Until Olly spoke about his charity work at a reunion of former students: "A few of them came into our factory the next week and saw what was going on and they were pretty inspired. Then they put together a submission to Canberra and the rest is history".
Who inspires you? Who do you think should be our next Australian of the Year?
If you see them or hear about them, nominate them before July 31 for the 2026 Australian of the Year Awards at australianoftheyear.org.au.
If being named Senior Australian of the Year came as a surprise, it didn't prepare Brother Olly Pickett for what came after.
In the three days it took to return to Western Australia after the January ceremony in Canberra, $324,000 in donations had rolled into Wheelchairs for Kids, the charity the Christian Brother set up in 1998. And the money's been pouring in ever since.
Olly puts the response down to putting a dollar figure on transforming a child's life.
"Each of us was told to write a speech as if we'd won it," he explains of the awards process. Looking at a draft of Olly's speech, an awards organiser asked how much it cost for the charity to make a wheelchair.
"I said $275 and she said 'Make you sure you put that in your speech', which I did." After Olly's acceptance speech, donations of $275 rolled in from around the country. "It kept coming from Queensland, NSW, Victoria, all over, South Australia, everywhere. Intermingled among these $275 were donations of $10,000, $5000, $1000."
Those who tuned in to Olly's speech were clearly moved by the realisation that such a small amount of money could transform a child's life. Speaking from Perth, his passion for the charity he's run for 27 years is infectious. He's warm and kind and there's no hint of his dedication slowing with age.
Wheelchairs for Kids was the brainchild of a Rotarian who visited Fiji in the mid 1990s and was shocked to see disabled children isolated and floor-bound. Returning to Australia, he fashioned wheelchairs from old bicycle parts. Two years later the idea was taken up by the Rotary Club of Scarborough.
It approached Brother Olly who had set up a metal workshop to equip teens who had dropped out of mainstream schooling with skills. "That's where we first started to do the wheelchairs," Olly says.
From there, the charity grew. Its factory with 50 volunteers now makes 120 a week. These are shipped to communities in Africa, Asia as well as to remote areas in Australia.
"I can see the great benefit these kids are getting from having a wheelchair after sitting on the ground for so many years," Olly says. "They are able to get off the ground and have some dignity and mobility and get to school and play with their friends."
The volunteers also benefit, something recognised by the WA government, which helps fund Wheelchairs for Kids: "The reason they do that is for the wellbeing of the volunteers. It's a wonderful thing for the people to be able to come to this place and do something meaningful with people around them instead of sitting at home after they retire".
Olly says many great friendships have been formed on the factory floor: "Some of them have lost their husbands or wives or whatever and they make really nice friends with each other. If they have caravans they go away together, that sort of stuff. Or on cruises, But they always come back again".
Lives are enriched not only on the factory floor. Wheelchairs for Kids also involves elderly residents in aged care homes who knit and crochet rugs and soft toys which the charity distributes with its wheelchairs.
After Wheelchairs for Kids was given a national platform, Olly recognises the value of the Australian of the Year Awards: "I really hadn't taken much notice of them. You don't even think of these things because you just come to work every day and do what you do".
Until Olly spoke about his charity work at a reunion of former students: "A few of them came into our factory the next week and saw what was going on and they were pretty inspired. Then they put together a submission to Canberra and the rest is history".
Who inspires you? Who do you think should be our next Australian of the Year?
If you see them or hear about them, nominate them before July 31 for the 2026 Australian of the Year Awards at australianoftheyear.org.au.