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Warm Front coming your way
WOULD YOU like a warmer home next winter? writes DDMC Chief Executive Ed Passant.
The Disabled Drivers' Motor Club has joined forces with Warm Front to tell you about 100% grants for home insulation and heating improvements, ensuring you stay warm next winter.
You will shortly be receiving a letter about this initiative urging you to apply for the grants up to the value of £2,500, which are available to DDMC members who are either homeowners or private tenants and living in England. For all members not in England, we will be in touch soon about equivalent schemes in your area.
The Government is committed to helping people on certain benefits to keep warm and stay healthy in their home.
This scheme has been running for over four years and has helped just under one million households across England.
However, there are still many people who could benefit, and as long as you own or rent your home privately and are on an income related or disability benefit including DLA and AA, then this could be for you.
Warm Front grants provide a package of insulation and heating measures tailored to meet individual needs, including loft and cavity wall insulation, draught proofing and heating improvements, which in some cases can mean full central heating. This scheme is a total package, with all costs covered by the grant, and absolutely no catches – nothing to pay back.
Warm Front has a team of local surveyors who will visit you and recommend a range of improvements tailored
to your needs. They will then arrange for work to be carried out by locally based installers.
I would like to encourage our members to take advantage of this offer. This is a fantastic opportunity to ensure that your home is as warm as it could be at no cost to you. Keep warm, save money on bills, and reduce energy waste.
Mrs Robertson, of Kingswood, Bristol is 62 and lives by herself in a three bedroom terraced house. Until recently she tried to keep warm with two gas fires and no heating in the bedroom apart from an electric fan-heater which cost a lot to run.
Warm Front provided her with a significant top-up of loft insulation, draft proofing and a full gas central heating system with five radiators.
Having just got through Christmas and the recent cold weather she says: “I really used to worry about the cold and I often got ill during the winter months.
This central heating is excellent and I can control the temperature in each room as I like. I feel better, healthier and a lot warmer”.
More information landing on your doormats soon… 
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Merger progress ‘excellent’
THE FIRST meeting of the joint DDA /DDMC Working Group was held in January and made excellent progress, deciding on a range of recommendations to be made to the next meetings of the respective Boards.
Ed Passant, DDMC Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted at the continuing progress and remain convinced that the case for merger is compelling.
“We will, of course, put the whole matter before our membership when we are in a position to do so.”
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40 years fighting for the right to mobility
SIR PETER LARGE CBE, an outstanding fighter for the mobility of disabled people, died peacefully at home in Surrey, on 23 January, aged 73.
For more than 40 years Sir Peter was involved with a large number of national disability organisations including the Joint Committee on Mobility for Disabled People, the Association of Disabled Professionals, the Disablement Income Group, the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation, the Access Committee for England, the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, the National Advisory Council on Employment of Disabled People, and the Disability Living Allowance Advisory Board. He was a governor of Motability since its inception.
Sir Peter was awarded an MBE in 1974 and a CBE in 1987. He was awarded a knighthood in recognition of his services to disabled people in 1993.
Late last year he received RADAR's Lifetime Achievement Award for the furtherance of Human and Civil Rights of disabled people in the U.K.
Dr Adrian Stokes, former Chairman of the DDMC and a fellow Motability Governor said “Sir Peter was a superbly analytical thinker and a passionate advocate of the cause of mobility of disabled
people. He will be deeply missed by his many friends and colleagues.”
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Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting of the Disabled Drivers' Motor Club To be held at DDMC Offices, Cottingham Way, Thrapston, Northants, NN14 4PL on Sunday 27th February 2005 at 10.30am
An Extraordinary General Meeting has been called to vote on the following resolution:
To increase membership subscriptions to the following amounts:
Annual Single Membership to £12.00, Annual Joint Membership to £18.00, Life Membership to £252.00.
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Pricing policy is ‘best ever’
MOTABILITY OPERATIONS has announced what it calls “the best ever” changes to its pricing policy. Revealed on January 1, the new price list contains 250 models at no advance payment, a 16 per cent increase; over 600 models available with advance payment under £500, an eight per cent increase; and a record number of automatics (35 models) available at nil advance payment. Under the new stabilised pricing policy, these features are valid until April 1 2005.
Mike Betts, Motability Operations' chief executive, said, “This is our best price list to date, with an exceptional range of affordable makes and models on offer for the benefit of our customers. We know what an important factor price is, and have set out, in partnership with the manufacturers, to offer a wide range of cars to suit every requirement and pocket.
“Independent analysis consistently shows that there is no more cost-effective way to get motoring than with Motability. There has never been a better time to join us.”
Key changes brought about by the new pricing policy mean that one of the most popular models on the Motability Scheme, a seven-seater Renault Grand Scenic, is now available with nil
advance payment (was previously £395).
A comprehensive range of wheelchair accessible vehicles continues to be available, starting from nil advance payment for a five-year contract hire vehicle.
The latest improvements to the Motability Car Scheme come after a series of enhancements in the past 18 months, including improved accessibility and a streamlined application process.
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New executive director for NCIL
THE NATIONAL Centre for Independent Living has appointed Nick Danagher as its new Executive Director. Nick will take up the position in March, joining from Surrey Independent Living Council, which runs one of the UK's biggest direct payments support services. He has worked in the disabled people's movement for 12 years and acted as a government adviser on disability pollicy.
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A SWINDON businessman injured in a freak skydiving accident has managed to resume his great passion just 10 weeks after leaving hospital .
Bob Soutar, aged 51, suffered a serious C4 neck injury when his parachute was affected by turbulence on making his 1,347th jump in January 2003. Now he has raised £3,000 for the
Backup Spinal Injuries Trust by completing his first jump since the accident.
Bob was sponsored by wheelchair company Balder UK, whose F290 model has also enabled him to go back to work and run his company. The chair can raise him to a standing position
when meeting people and allows him to get around his office without assistance. He can also visit his local and drink at the bar with his friends!
In addition to fundraising Bob has just qualified as a skydiving judge, which will involve travelling around the UK to attend and judge various competitions.
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RYA Sailability
RYA Sailability, the charity that develops sailing opportunities for disabled people, has appointed George Barker as Racing Coach. His responsibilities will include expanding the pool of sailors
available to selectors ahead of the 2008 Paralympics, identifying sailors with medal winning potential and developing racing skills.
RYA is asking the boating community to help with fundraising for their work – contact George Barker 07961 147524 or Connie Power 0845 345 0403.
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Motorsport Endeavour
Motorsport Endeavour, the organisation founded by Graham Raphael to organise an ambitions international rally for disabled drivers, has announed the Duke of Somerset as its new patron and relaunched itself as “a new motorsport
club to host events exclusively for people with disabilities”. It is offering a programme of events and a date for the inaugural rally, a three-day event based at Stoke Mandeville, is soon to be announced. For more information on the club and its programme of events, call Motorsport Endeavour on 020 8991 2358 or visit:
www.motorsportendeavour.com
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ERRATUM:
ERRATUM: We have been asked by PR company Century PR to point out that the hand controls fitted to the TXII taxi of Swindon driver Allan Wells were supplied by Jeff Gosling Hand Controls Ltd, not "He-Man" as stated in their information used by us in the December 2004 issue of Disabled Motorist.
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Young talent required
NATIONAL YOUNG Disabled Persons' Day is on July 7 this year, and to celebrate,
The Mobility Roadshow is launching a competition to encourage children to think about preconceptions and problems facing young disabled people on the move.
The Ready, Willing and Mobile competition calls for bright ideas to challenge accessibility in public places, aid mobility at home and help participation in games, outdoor activities and outings.
It is estimated there are 70,000 disabled children in the UK whose lives would be significantly improved by the provision of a customised wheelchair or other type of mobility equipment. The
competition will encourage children aged between seven and 16 to consider disability,
accessibility and inclusivity from a younger age.
Jacqui Jones, director of projects and events at Mobility Choice, comments:
“Young minds are fantastically creative, unhindered by preconceptions.
Encouraging ideas from a young age will help achieve a more inclusive future.”
The winner will receive a bundle of prizes for their school – a cheque for £1,000 for equipment, Staedtler stationery and art and craft materials worth £250, and a visit by Dame Tanni Grey-
Thompson DBE, the most successful paralympic athlete ever. For themselves they will take home a Sony Cybershot T3 camera worth around £400, £100 worth of HarperCollins books of their choice and a VIP visit to the first day of The Mobility Roadshow.
Entrants can visit the website for ideas, more information and to download an entry pack: www.mobilityroadshow.co.uk or call 0870 770 3222.
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Independent Living
INDEPENDENT Living Scotland, the largest homecare exhibition in the country for disabled people, the elderly, healthcare workers and carers, returns to Glasgow's SECC from April 6-7.
Special martial arts workshops to suit disabled visitors and a programme of seminars are among the features of this year's show.
For FREE tickets to the show call 0870 429 4372 or visit the website at
www.independentlivingevents.co.uk.
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From Pole to Palace
THE FIRST disabled explorer to reach both the North and South Poles has been honoured by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Michael McGrath, who has muscular dystrophy (MD), was
invited to the Palace to be recognised as having made a significant recent contribution to national life.
The 39-year-old, who lives near Bishops Stortford, is a motivational speaker, MD fundraiser and “good will ambassador” for Merseyside-based bespoke wheelchair manufacturer Cyclone Mobility & Fitness.
After 15 days in Antarctica, Michael travelled the last 5km of his epic journey strapped in the supine position in an adapted sledge. With the help of his team, he walked “assisted” for the
last 350 metres – each metre symbolically representing some 100,000 people worldwide with muscle disorders.
He commented: “Even though my condition has deteriorated over the past two years, I managed to walk further at the South Pole, thanks in part to the help and invaluable support provided
by companies like Cyclone Mobility & Fitness. The aim was to highlight ability, not disability, whilst generating global awareness towards those with muscular dystrophy.”
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‘Trike’ retires
THE FAMILIAR blue Thundersley Invacar had its last hurrah when the last “Trike” currently running took its place of honour at the headquarters of the Disabled Drivers Association at
Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk.
The Trike was once a familiar sight on roads throughout Britain. It gave disabled people mobility, enabling them to move around independently.
The Invacar came into existence in the 1950s when the Ministry of Health standardised the specifications for an invalid vehicle. It was banned from UK roads in March 2003.
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