A1 Stairlifts Calling Golfers For Charity Golf Day

20th August 2014

A1 Stairlifts is sponsoring a charity golf day in association with MJK Sports Events and is calling for teams to join in to help raise funds for Community  Cougars Foundation! The event is teeing off on Thursday 18 September at Keighley Golf Club in West Yorkshire.

The day starts with soup and sandwiches served 12-12:30pm with a 1:30 shot gun start. Teams of 4 with 2 to count.

The event will be topped off with a two-course meal followed by a talk from rugby league legend Garry Schofield OBE, comedian, mini auction and raffle.

Picture from The Sun.

There’s already been huge amount of interest so there is limited places left – don’t miss out!

Community Cougars Foundation aims to utilise the ower of sport to inspire, educate and motivate the community within Keighley and Craven. Working with partners such as Bradford City Council, Keighley Town Council, Sport England, the Primary Care Trusts, Education Bradford, the Police and key sponsors to develop an innovative and progressive programme.

The Community Cougars Foundation, based in Keighley West Yorkshire, focuses on four pillars of activity; sport and physical activity, health, education – literacy and numeracy, social inclusion/community cohesion working with around 11,000 young people every year.

 

Disability allowance to fund your mobility needs

15th August 2014

If you have mobility difficulties or a disability, you may be able to getting help to fund your mobility equipment.

If you’re over 16, you need to apply for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) which is gradually replacing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people aged between 16-64 with long term health or disability conditions. You can use the gov.uk checker to see how this effects you.

Disability allowance is a tax free benefit and when it comes to mobility, it’s split between below:

Mobility component	Weekly rate	Level of help you need
Lower	£21.55	Guidance or supervision outdoors
Higher	£56.75	You have any other, more severe, walking difficulty

PIP is awarded based on your mobility and care needs, not on what conditions or illnesses you’re diagnosed with. Which makes sense as not everyone is affected in the same way or has the same level or severity of a condition. So it would be hard to suggest just because someone else with The same condition was awarded it then everyone else will be to if you understand what I mean. 

From what I’ve read the assessments done by Capita seem to be fairly comprehensively done and give fair results. Now you’ve been assessed unfortunately you’ll probably just have to wait until you get your decision , and I think it can be a few weeks before that happens and longer if the DWP ask for any further clarification on the assessment.

Are you eligible?

Adults can claim PIP  if your disability or condition means one or both of the following relate to you:

• you need help looking after yourself
• you have walking difficulties

There is also a care component to be considered which you may be eligible if:

• You need help with things like washing, dressing, eating, using the toilet or communicating your needs
• You supervision to avoid putting yourself or others in danger
• You need someone with you when you’re on dialysis
• You can’t prepare a cooked main meal

This can claim for this if no one is giving you the care you need, or you live by yourself.

When it comes to mobility needs, you may be entitled to this part of DLA/PIP if, when using your normal aid, you:

• can’t walk
• can only walk a short distance without severe discomfort
• could become very ill if you try to walk

You might also get it if you:

• have no feet or legs
• are assessed as 100% blind and at least 80% deaf and you need someone with you when outdoors
• are severely mentally impaired with severe behavioural problems and get the highest rate of care for DLA
• need supervision most of the time when walking outdoors
• are certified as severely sight impaired and you were aged between 3 and 64 on 11 April 2011

To determine whether or not you’re eligable for allowance to help and support your needs, you may be assessed to check what level of help you need.

For more information on all of the above and for expert advice, see gov.uk website.

Explore your Freedom – Combatting Loneliness

8th August 2014

We have recently started an  Explore Your Freedom advertising campaign in the Yorkshire Post’s weekend magazine. The reason being is that we’re passionate about encouraging and helping the elderly and disabled to enjoy their surroundings and live as full a life as possible.

 

A report was recently released by Friends of the Elderly looking at the landscape for loneliness amongst older people, in the next 5, 10 and 15 years (see full report here).    The key facts they found were:

• Over five million older people in the UK are affected by loneliness, with more than a million saying they often feel lonely.
• Being older is a crucial predictor of loneliness – demographic change alone will drive up the number of lonely older people in the UK by 40 per cent in the next 15 years.
• There is a strong connection between low contact with family members and loneliness – contact with children is especially important. 
• There is a strong link between having low levels of income and being lonely – older people in poverty suffer lower frequency of social contacts.
• Technology has the potential to make a positive impact on loneliness, but by 2030 10 per cent of older people will still not have a mobile phone or use the internet.

Friends of the Elderly are encouraging everyone to Be a Friend as everyday interactions have been proven to combat loneliness. We’re fully supportive of this campaign and that’s also a reason for our advertising campaign, because we want the less abled to be able to explore their freedom. We have a wide range of mobility products to support various needs. We specialise in reconditioned stairlifts which offer value for money for those that can’t afford or don’t need a brand new one. Find out more here.

If you want to discuss further, join us on Twitter @A1Stairlifts1 or Facebook .

Yorkshire Day

1st August 2014

Happy Yorkshire Day everyone!

As a Keighley-based business, for us it’s a day to be proud of! From a good cup of Yorkshire tea or a quality pint of Timothy Taylor’s, to the beautiful countryside, to a good Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings, to the friendly people, there’s plenty of reasons to love the place. Not to mention, Yorkshire being internationally praised for its beauty following Le Grand Depart in July.

As an independent stairlift supplier with 23 years experience selling and servicing stairlifts, being based in Yorkshire is key to our business. The region is renowned in the industry with some of the leading manufacturers also being based here and being independent, we supply some of these top models.

In the past two years we have added to our experience by merging with two other top Yorkshire mobility suppliers, Easystair Stairlifts and Complete Stairlifts.

But being typical Yorkshire people, we like good banter as much as the next guy, which is why our showroom is open to all who want to come test out a stairlift, mobility scooter, rise and recline chair, adjustable bed and many more of our products before buying. There’ll be a friendly face waiting and a good cup of tea if you want! When it comes to our customer service phone line, we have a small knowledgeable team in the office who will deal with any enquiries so you have peace of mind that you won’t have to deal with any call centres.

We’re also very keen on supporting our local area and being big rugby league fans, we’re proud to sponsor local club Keighley Cougars. We’re passionate about the development of the local community and club plays an integral part in this. 

 

For now, here’s some pictures of why Yorkshire is such a great place to be!