Legacy tokens

At WMS 2023 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA, we launched our legacy tokens initiative. Instead of using Congress funds to create branded merchandise, which is not in line with our environmental sustainability ambitions, we decided instead to dedicate £10,000 to our Congress legacy. 

Our Local Organising Committee selected three charities based in the Charleston area to each receive a share of our £10,000 donation. In Prague for WMS 2024, we supported four local charities, again, each receiving a share of £10,000. You can read about our 2023 and 2024 legacy on the WMS website.

Our 2025 legacy

As we celebrate 30 years of the WMS, we are repeating our legacy tokens initiative for WMS 2025. Our Local organising Committee has nominated four local good causes to each receive a share of £10,000. 

The charities are:

Austrian Powerchair Football National Team - Powerchair football is one of the few team sports suitable for people with severe disabilities, giving them the opportunity to be physically active, be part of a team, and gain competition experience. Only those who use an electric wheelchair in their daily lives are eligible to participate. What makes this sport unique is that neither gender nor age play a role – everyone has the same opportunities to take part in the game and celebrate successes together.

For many participants, powerchair football is an important balance to everyday life. Through the sport, genuine friendships have developed that go far beyond the playing field. Especially the experiences at training camps and tournaments remain long in the players’ memories – many still talk about them enthusiastically today and are highly motivated to continue building on these experiences.

The team's greatest achievement was taking part in the European Championship in Finland. Another highlight was winning the Four Nations Cup in Germany, where they prevailed against renowned teams from Germany and Italy.

The organisation's primary goal is to further develop the sport in Austria and establish it in all federal states, giving all electric wheelchair users who are passionate about football the chance to practice their sport.

You can read more about Austrian Powerchair Football National Team on their website.

Marathon – A handful of mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers came together in 1997 and founded "Marathon – Association for Children with Muscular Diseases." "We chose the name Marathon because it will be a very, very long battle against the disease, and we therefore need to be very, very persistent," said Heinz Rathberger, a grandfather affected by the disease.

80 families from all over Austria have now joined the support group, and the number is constantly growing. Marathon's goal is to provide children with a good life. Their motto: "Every day our children feel good is a day won."

Marathon exists to: 

• Raise public awareness of the disease and its problems.
• Provide material, moral and technical assistance to affected families.
• To provide every child with the best possible therapeutic treatment.
• Pass on experience and knowledge.
• Establish and maintain contacts with international diagnostic, treatment and research centres.

You can read more about Marathon on their website.

Österreichische Muskel­forschung - Founded more than 35 years ago by the father of a boy with Duchene muscular dystrophy, Austrian Muscle Research supports selected research projects to investigate muscle diseases and improve medical and therapeutic care, with the goal of contributing to an improvement in the quality of life of people with muscle diseases. Around 20,000 people in Austria live with a muscle disease, more than half of whom are children and adolescents. Austrian Muscle Research also sees an important task in conveying knowledge about neuromuscular diseases and the current state of research. The target groups for this include both healthcare professionals and those affected and their families.

You can read more about Österreichische Muskel­forschung on their website.

SMA Österreich - 

SMA Austria is the patient representative group for people in Austria with spinal muscular atrophy. Founded in 2020, the group made history in its first six months with the #StopStiflingTod campaign. Its mission is to collaborate and strengthen the network with other organisations locally and internationally; promote research work and support therapy development; organise community-building events; and represent the interests of SMA patients to all important stakeholders. 

You can read more about SMA Österreich on their Facebook page.

How it works

When you arrive at WMS 2025 and visit the registration desk, you will be given a legacy token alongside your name badge and travel pass. You will receive additional tokens at each of the Industry Symposia you attend. The small wooden token features the WMS logo. We will have collection boxes for each of the charities mentioned above. You can select which of the charities you would like us to donate to on your behalf by depositing your token in the appropriate box. At the end of the Congress, we will count up all the tokens in each box and divide our £10,000 donation based on the votes of Congress delegates. We will share the information with you after the Congress and visit each of the charities to make our donations.