Linda’s Winter Warmer Minestrone Soup

19th November 2014

Linda’s Winter Warmer Minestrone Soup… Yum 

3 cloves of garlic

1 large onion

2 sticks of celery

2 large carrots

2 small potatoes

1 courgette

800ml veg stock

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato puree

60g dried spaghetti

Salt and pepper

Step 1: Chop the veg and fry lightly in spray oil for a few minutes to soften

Step 2: Add rest of ingredients except potatoes and spaghetti and bring to boil then simmer for 40mins

Step 3: Blend half of mixture until smooth, return to pan, add potatoes and spaghetti and simmer for further 25 minutes!

Serve and enjoy! (Chef’s extra tip: warm up some crusty bread and butter) 

Book Signing at A1 Stairlifts With Rugby League Legends

19th November 2014

Keighley Cougar’s shop is now officially located in A1 Stairlifts showroom on South Street in Keighley (West Yorkshire).  On December 13, rugby league legend and one of BARLA’s founding members Maurice Oldroyd and Geoff Lee will be hosting a book signing here from 10am-2pm.

A must for rugby league fans!

Maurice Oldroyd launched his book Building The Family Game A Rugby League Memoir this year. He was a key person involved in developing the amateur rugby league since the foundation of the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) in 1973. As  BARLA’s first full-time employee he played a major role in its development until he retire in 2000.

He then became BARLA’s chairman in 2001 until 2005, and today is the Association’s patron. This memoir is essential reading for rugby league fans.

Geoff Lee’s book Two Seasons: Work, Family, Old Friends and Rugby League is his 5th novel in a series about life in the Lancashire town of Ashurst. The main characters are Alan and Thelma Greenall. Alan who worked for over 40 years as an electrical draughtsman at Wilkinson’s Engineering Works – part of a multinational company with HQ in Amsterdam. Fact and fiction are brought together throughout the novel and particularly in the chapters Hazel says ‘no to Bush and Blair’ and “The spoilt papers might win it”.

Scooter Alarms and GPS Tracking System…

12th November 2014

We’re now adding scooter alarms and optional GPS tracking systems to all of our new high value scooters.  This means that if your scooter is stolen while you’re out and about, or at home, you can trigger the alarm and track from the GPS system where abouts your scooter is.

This also means that if you’re worried about a family member who has a scooter, you can track where they are. We often get comments from people who are concerned about their elderly family members when they head of for a few hours and they’re not sure where they are.

We also know a lot of our customers are worried about leaving their scooters when they go shopping so we know these new additions will offer peace of mind.

Here is our scooter expert, Gary, fitting a new system to one of our scooters:

Come test your scooter before buying and visit our newly refurbished showroom: 56 South Street, Keighley, West Yorkshire

Loneliness for men over 50 set to rise to 1m in next 15 years

15th October 2014

We were saddened to hear the government figures released this week that in the next 15 years the number of men over the age of 50 suffering from severe loneliness in England will increase to more than 1 million.

The study stated a shocking more than 700,000 older men feeling a high degree of loneliness. This is only set to increase as the population of older men living alone is predicted to grow by 65% to 1.5 million by 2030. Independent Age said that the impact of isolation will spread.

Those that are and will be most likely the hardest hit are men with low incomes with few qualifications, health problems and those that rent.

“This matters because loneliness is actually a health risk,” said Janet Morrison, chief executive of Independent Age. “If you allow people to suffer from loneliness it has the equivalent impact as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and is as big a risk as obesity.”

Some of the figures show:

• Nearly one in five older men admitted to having less than monthly contact with friends compared to one in eight for women
• More older men experience high levels of social isolation
• Almost a quarter of men over 50 have less than monthly contact with their children compared to just one in seven women
• Loneliness affects close to half of all men over 50

The findings are based on newly released data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a collaboration involving University College London, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, NatCen Social Research and Manchester University.

On Monday Independent Age will call on the government to tackle loneliness among retirees by providing pre-retirement advice on retaining and developing social networks and for local councils to step up efforts to identify lonely people.

Are you concerned or affected by this. Visit Independentage.org http://www.independentage.org/media/828364/isolation-the-emerging-crisis-for-older-men-report.pdf

Happy Home Focus: Reconditioned Stannah Stairlifts

15th October 2014

Stannah is a renowed name in the stairlift industry for quality and reliability.  It is a British family run business based in England, making lifts of all types since 1867 and stairlifts from 1975.

Stannah stairlifts are designed to blend seamlessly with your interior, whether you live in a classic or contemporary home, or if you have a straight or curved staircase – it is the perfect edition to the home making mobility easy. There is a large number of models to choose from. Here at A1, we offer recondition Stannah stairlifts which are as good as new:

What are the benefits of a reconditioned stairlifts?

To check the availability and price of reconditioned Stannah stairlifts please phone 0800 678 5261 or email enquiries@a1stairlifts.co.uk

Bruno Mariano Charity Dinner Dance

10th October 2014

We’re proud to be part of this Bruno Mariano Night at Cougar Park, Keighley on November 14. It was a great success last year and once again all funds raised will go to Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice and Reverse Rett.

Fizz, canapes, 3-course meal and live music. More information here or email headoffice@a1stairlifts.co.uk

Event is at Cougar Park, Keighley, West Yorkshire

Top tips on staying warm in winter

24th September 2014

Staying warm in winter can prove difficult, causing all sorts of health problems – especially for the elderly who often are on a low income so can’t afford to heat their home, and those with disabilities.

With the colder months approaching, staying warm can hold off nasty colds and flues and more serious health problems such as sleep deprivation, heart attacks, pneumonia and depression.

The NHS offers free flu jabs – to find if you’re eligible or for more information, click here.

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:

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 .