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„Jelly Legs‟: Tony‟s Story Buying a mobility scooter? Charity Profile: INS news RICHMOND AID Issue 28 Summer 2010

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  • „Jelly Legs‟: Tony‟s Story Buying a mobility

    scooter? Charity Profile: INS

    news RICHMOND AID

    Issue 28

    Summer

    2010

  • 2

    Richmond AID News & Welcome

    Welcome From our Chief Exec

    Dear Readers,

    Here at Richmond AID we have been doing a good spring clean of the building. We have created a new ground floor meeting room which we will also use as a training room, given the rooms a lick of paint and the reception area has had a good clean too. Please visit and let us know what you think!

    Over the next year there will be plenty of action and change here at Richmond Advice and Information on Disability. We are now doing a perception survey of our service users to find out how we are viewed as an organisation, as well as our asking funders and partners in the voluntary sector for feedback. We will be using this as a basis for developing our services.

    Inside each newsletter is a copy of the survey, please do fill it in and send it back to us. If there is not a copy of the survey and you would like to participate please contact us and we can post or email one out. Feedback from the survey will be in the next newsletter.

    This year we will be really focusing on involving you, our clients, in helping us to improve our services. If you are interested in participating in focus groups or a range of volunteering opportunities please do contact us.

    So, roll on summer and let‟s hope for lots of sunshine!

    Lucy

    Follow us on Facebook and Twitter with the links from our website at

    www.richmondaid.org.uk

    This edition features stories about transport.

    Contents

    Welcome Local news & issues 3 Transport Feature: Dial-a-Ride 4 Before You Buy Your Mobility Scooter 5 Theresa Rowe Disabilities Access Group (EDDAG) 5 Joanne Atkinson Your Story: „Jelly Legs‟ by Tony Morley 6 Transport for London Survey: How do you commute? 6 Charity Profile: Integrated Neurological Services (INS) By Belinda Canosa 7 For Sale 7 Contact Information 8

    http://en-gb.facebook.com/people/Richmond-Aid/100000057604688http://twitter.com/RichmondAIDhttp://www.richmondaid.org.uk/http://en-gb.facebook.com/people/Richmond-Aid/100000057604688http://twitter.com/RichmondAID

  • 3

    Affect the future of local hospitals and care services with Richmond Local Involvement Network

    An independent network of local people and organisations, Richmond LINk is one of 150 local involvement networks in England set up to monitor, evaluate and influence health and social care services.

    People with an interest in their local area, hospitals, homes and other services work together to ensure the best care and support possible is available in and around Richmond upon Thames. This includes social care and healthcare provided for local people at nearby hospitals and clinics such as West Middlesex and Kingston Hospitals. Newsletters include articles on the future of Kingston Hospital and Summary Care Records (SCR) and can be found at www.richmondlink.org.uk.

    Blue Badge Reform

    Know anyone whose Blue Badge has been stolen? Are you interested in how the scheme is enforced, and paid for? „The Blue Badge Reform Programme - A Consultation Document‟ has been published along with research produced for the consultation. This consultation is about proposals to improve the enforcement of the Blue Badge scheme, proposals to extend the eligibility criteria to more children under three years of age with medical conditions and to certain seriously disabled service personnel and veterans and the distribution of funding to help local authorities pay for independent medical assessments. There are 24 questions, which can be found here: www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/2010-20. For paper copies or alternative formats of this document call 0207 944 5782 or email [email protected].

    Email your responses to: [email protected] or post to Katherine Lancaster, Blue Badge and Equality Schemes Division, DfT, 3/19 Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR.

    The deadline is Friday 2nd July 2010.

    If you have strong opinions and suggestions about the Blue Badge programme but don‟t want to go through the consultation questions, send us your comments at [email protected] to include in our response to the consultation.

    Local Issues, National Networks

    For people who would like to campaign, make a noise about or change something in their area the national disability charity Scope can offer support on your issues and would like to hear from you. To work with SCOPE on local issues, telephone: 020 7619 7370 or email: [email protected], or visit www.scope.org.uk for more information.

    Richmond AID can support you on this so please do contact us if you are interested and would like our advice and support. Call us on 020 8831 or email: [email protected].

    Expert Patients Programme

    ‘Control your condition, don’t let it control you’

    Learn to manage the day-to-day issues associated with living with a long-term health condition. The Expert Patients Programme Community Interest Company is running free self management courses for adults who live with any long-term health condition(s). The EPP aims to help you to take more control of your health by learning new skills to manage you condition better on a daily basis. EPP courses are starting soon in Richmond. Contact us to book your place! Tel: 0800 954 0650 / 0207 922 7860. Email: [email protected]

    Richmond Homes and Lifestyle Trust

    Richmond Homes for Life Trust was renamed Richmond Homes and Lifestyle Trust on 7 April 2010. A new web site is due to be launched soon. Any questions? Ask:[email protected]

    Get Involved: Local news and issues

    http://www.richmondlink.org.ukhttp://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/2010-20http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/2010-20mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.scope.org.ukmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

  • 4

    Transport Feature

    Dial-a-Ride Improving all the time

    By Joyce Mamode

    Dial-a-Ride (DAR) is a door-to-door transport service provided by Transport for London.

    Richmond resident Audrey Milson says Dial-a-Ride has “transformed her life” since she started using it in 2008. Mrs Milson is a wheelchair user and has found that the service has made “all sorts possible”, such as carrying out volunteer work and attending a course at Richmond College. Before joining Dial-a-Ride Mrs Milson felt she could not go out, but now with the help of the door to door service and its highly trained drivers, she feels she is able to carry on a normal life. She has used the service for shopping, social events, trips to the dentists as well as to visit the theatre. Mrs Milson‟s praise of the service also extends to the drivers whom she describes as “efficient and polite”.

    Transport for London has been improving the Dial-a-Ride service and it now offers:

    New low floor vehicles A single call centre covering all London Bookings confirmed at time of call Better regular bookings service Taxi and private hire supplement to service

    The service now accommodates more than nine out of ten journey requests it receives and the majority of vehicles used by Dial-a-Ride are wheelchair accessible. Many can also accommodate scooters as long as the passenger can transfer to a vehicle seat.

    To be eligible to use Dial-a-Ride you must have a permanent or long-term disability which makes you unable, or virtually unable, to use mainstream public transport services some or all of the time. You are automatically eligible if you are a member of Taxicard, receive the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance or higher rate Attendance Allowance, are registered blind, aged 85+ or receive a War Pension Mobility Supplement.

    Contact DAR to request information on how to join. Tel: 0845 999 1 999 E: [email protected].

    mailto:[email protected]

  • 5

    Mobility and Access

    Before You Buy Your Mobility Scooter

    By Theresa Rowe

    If you are thinking of buying a mobility scooter, it is worth reading through fact sheet guides on your choices and what to look out for. Richmond AID have a factsheet (www.richmondaid.org.uk) as do the Disabled Living Foundation (www.dlf.org.uk) and RADAR (www.radar.org.uk).

    So, you have done your factfinding but realise you may have problems getting the scooter in or out of your home. This may be because of a narrow pavement or you have nowhere to store it. You may have steps from your home and need a ramp installed. If you are going to need a ramp, storage space, a charging point or have other access issues within your home, you can apply to your local council for an assessment by an occupational therapist (OT). They can assess your needs and check if you qualify for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). There is a financial assessment for a DFG. If it is only a minor adjustment or adaptation and this will cost under £1000, this would be provided free of charge and there is no financial assessment.

    There is a waiting list for an OT assessment and it could be up to 6 months waiting for a DFG if there is major work to be done. If it is just minor equipment such as a portable ramp, then this can be done very quickly once the OT has assessed you and the work is approved. If you are a tenant, you will need to get your landlord‟s approval for any work. Contact adult services on 020 8891 7971/text 07800 002439 or email: [email protected] and have a look on the Richmond website for information about DFGs.

    If you have access problems getting your scooter in/out of your property because of pavement restrictions you will need to contact [email protected] (0845 6122 660) to discuss this. You may need a site visit to look at a solution for your needs whether it is a disabled bay, a dropped kerb or removal of footway paving marks. Each request would have to be considered separately. The timescale will depend on what is required but should take between 6-8 weeks from request to completion. This guidance also applies if you have a powered wheelchair. _____________________________________________

    The Environment Directorate Disabilities Access Group (EDDAG)

    By Joanne Atkinson

    In May 2009 I became a member of the Environment Directorate Disabilities Access Group (EDDAG). This group has been set up by Richmond Council to help them consider the needs of disabled people at the very outset of the design process for new and refurbished council properties.

    We are a group of people with physical, hearing and sight impairment and we have been looking at the proposals for new buildings and giving our suggestions for how the schemes can be made more disabled friendly. We are all local people with disabilities who have been recruited because we want to make sure public buildings are as accessible as possible.

    We work with the architects and surveyors to go beyond what is required under the Building Regulations and we hope that we are helping to improve things for disabled people in the borough. I, for one, am fed up with finding that I can‟t get into buildings in my wheelchair, or find it hard to locate the disabled entrance.

    The EDDAG group could have turned into a talking shop with nothing to show for its achievements but we have already seen some of the results of our collaboration with the council. A good example is the new library in Hampton Hill High Street, which has incorporated all of our suggestions in its final design. See our website at: www.richmond.gov.uk/home/council_government_and_democracy/environment_directorate_disabilities_access_group.htm

    http://www.richmondaid.org.ukhttp://www.dlf.org.ukhttp://www.radar.org.ukmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/council_government_and_democracy/environment_directorate_disabilities_access_group.htmhttp://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/council_government_and_democracy/environment_directorate_disabilities_access_group.htmhttp://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/council_government_and_democracy/environment_directorate_disabilities_access_group.htm

  • 6

    „Jelly Legs‟ - Tony Morley I was a „well person‟ up until the summer of 2003. This is when my life turned, or „wobbled‟. I was on holiday, with my wife Tina, in Cornwall. We had gone to the Eden Project which was great until „it hit me‟. Walking around one of the big greenhouses, I couldn‟t help but notice that my legs had turned to jelly and I just could not walk any further. After a rest I made my escape… slowly. Since then I have experienced a bit of foot dragging and the occasional trip. I am told also that my short term memory is a bit vacant (don‟t know for sure, I just can‟t remember).

    Before the holiday I had noticed some tingling in my fingers and legs, both of which I didn‟t really worry about. I did eventually go to my doctors and was told that I just needed more exercise. Subsequently I visited an osteopath, who then wrote to my doctor with their professional opinion of the strange things that were happening to me. Eventually I was referred to a neurologist. I was 47 at this point. My first MRI scan came with a diagnosis. The doctor offered me some „good‟ and „bad‟ news. I asked for the good news first and it came back as: “Mr Morley, I am pleased to tell you that you

    do not have Cancer”. However, then came the bad news: “You have Multiple Sclerosis”. It subsequently turned out that I had, and I now live with, Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. My initial feeling to this was one of utter shock; I was a mess. I had been made redundant from my job. I applied for jobs but found that potential employers were not interested in me although I had what they were looking for. In the second round of jobs I applied for I deliberately applied without any disclosure: I was offered two jobs (I subsequently turned them down). I later got a job, again not disclosing my condition until after the application process. I unfortunately was made redundant again three years later and was left feeling very down. Now though I am very active: I have fundraised for local charities and volunteer with a number of organisations (I work as a driver for Richmond AID, and am part of the Hounslow MS branch committee as the „Male Support Officer‟).

    Transport for London Survey

    How do you commute?

    Accent Research are conducting a survey for TfL to understand more about the travelling experiences of disabled commuters.

    If you are mobility, visually or hearing impaired, deaf or a wheelchair user, TfL would like to hear from you. To be eligible to take part, your usual journey to work or place of further education should include travel by bus, Tube or Overground during weekday peak hours. TfL also wants your feedback if you travel after 7pm. You will need to complete an assessment form about your journey. A small incentive will be offered and full instructions will be provided.

    The work is being carried out with Accent.

    If you would like to take part in the study and improve the travelling experience for other disabled people, contact 0800 028 4095 or email: [email protected] or visit www.accent-mr.com/commuters

    Your Story

    mailto:[email protected]://www.accent-mr.com/commuters

  • 7

    Integrated Neurological Services

    By Belinda Canosa

    INS is a local charity providing long term physiotherapy, occupational therapy and social support for people with deteriorating neurological conditions, such as Parkinson‟s disease (PD), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), or who have suffered strokes or head injury. It also provides training and support to their family carers. INS aims to encourage self-reliance, to enable greater independence and to help people make the most of their abilities so that they and their carers can lead a more fulfilling life.

    Services include:

    Professional assessment of new clients in their own home, leading to joint agreement of goals. Weekly self-help groups, each for around 10 people with the same condition to improve physical, cognitive and communication abilities and personal independence.

    Home visits by professional staff for those unable to attend a group.

    Monthly carers' support groups for each condition, plus a post-bereavement group. Individual training, advice and support is always available.

    Befriending Service: trained volunteers provide regular support and friendship to clients and carers isolated and

    incapacitated by their condition.

    Additional therapeutic activities include hydrotherapy, singing, music and art therapy.

    For more information please contact INS on 020 8755 4000, email: [email protected], write to: 82 Hampton Road, Twickenham TW2 5QS or view our website at: www.ins.org.uk.

    For Sale

    3 Wheeled Scooter - Roma Medical Shop Rider Model SL7/3, in very good cosmetic condition but will need new battery (approx £80). Top speed 4mph, with charger and instructions. Will need a full service. Cost £500 as new: will take any offers over £100. Call Mr George White: 020 8751 4979.

    Acorn Stairlift - Straight run. Can be adapted to fit. Asking price £900+ £350 for the removal and install fee. Call Mrs Hebblethwaite on 020 8788 6910 before 10am.

    Give-Away: BT Decor 310 Corded Speaker phone with caller display. Different ring tones identify 4 groups of callers listed in your directory. Please ask your line provider if they supply the display feature for this model. It uses a PP3 9v battery. User guide: www2.bt.com/static/i/media/pdf/decor_310_userguide.pdf Please email Helen [email protected] or call Grace: 01823 259580.

    Charity Profile

    mailto:[email protected]://www.ins.org.ukwww2.bt.com/static/i/media/pdf/decor_310_userguide.pdfwww2.bt.com/static/i/media/pdf/decor_310_userguide.pdfmailto:[email protected]

  • 8

    LBRuT Accessible Transport Unit:

    Issues Blue Badges, Disabled Person‟s Freedom Passes, Taxi Cards & Vouchers and a Shopping scheme.

    RUILS (Richmond Users Independent Living Scheme)—provides assistance for people using Self Directed Support.

    VISOR (Visually Impaired Society of Richmond): Wednesdays only.

    Provides advice and organises trips and social events.

    Drop in to see us or call reception on 020 8831 6080.

    Richmond AID Patrons: Sir Trevor McDonald, Sir Donald Gosling, Pat Parsons, Dr Vincent Cable MP, Mat Fraser & Susan Kramer

    Other Services at the Disability Action & Advice Centre

    Getting to us: We are located next to Teddington Library

    Other Formats

    Disability News is available in a larger format or on tape. Please contact the Advice Line on 020 8831 6070.

    Disclaimer

    Richmond AID News: although Richmond AID checks all information carefully, it cannot accept legal liability for any inaccuracy or omission. Richmond AID does not recommend any product or service, nor do the views expressed in Richmond AID News necessarily represent the views of the organisation.

    4 Waldegrave Road

    Teddington

    TW11 8HT

    Tel: 020 8831 6070

    SMS: 07894 215835

    Email: [email protected]

    Web: www.richmondaid.org.uk

    If you want advice on any disability issue, our team of volunteers is here to help you from 11:00-16:00 Monday to Friday.

    mailto:%[email protected]://www.richmondaid.org.uk/