500 signatures reached
To: Ealing Borough Council
Shopmobility is needed!
Please find funding for Ealing Broadway Shopmobility from the Ealing Borough Council budget.
Why is this important?
The source of funding for Ealing Shopmobility came from a special regeneration project which has now ended. From July the scheme in Ealing will have to close.
The office there is manned by one full time member of staff and 4 volunteers, of whom I am one. We lend mobility scooters and wheelchairs for the day without charge, and charge minimally for overnight or longer periods. Last September we did a survey and asked our users how much they had spent in the shopping Centre. The total was not exact because we could not ask everyone, but it came to £3,800. So annually that is £45,600. The area will be losing that much business if we have to close. We have managed to raise £7,500 through the combined efforts of all of us, but especially through our manager, a remarkable young woman full of enthusiasm and energy.
People who have problems with mobility are, we all know, challenged to live a normal life. One solution is to get a wheelchair or a scooter, but if you live in a flat, or in a property with steps leading to your accommodation that is not possible. You can't leave the equipment out in the street, and it needs protection from the weather, as well as needing to be charged up and kept in good running order.
I am there three times a week, and I hear firsthand how much people value the scheme and how much it helps them. We have 482 members, and our service gives them the ability to do their shopping, go to the Doctor, meet up with friends, visit the library etc etc.
One of our customers said to me it was like having her legs back. I am disabled myself, and can very much empathise with that viewpoint. I am a keen cook, and without my borrowed scooter could not choose my vegetables and meat as I want to. Getting Christmas presents or birthday presents is much more difficult- the internet helps, but there is not a substitute for finding just the right thing for the right person.
Please support this petition. We are a small scheme, and have only been open for 6 years, and during that time have been moved twice, so new users cannot find us easily. Despite that we are increasing usage year on year. If Ealing cannot fund us the Shopping Centre will lose business, but more importantly the community will lose a facility that enriches the lives of many people.
The office there is manned by one full time member of staff and 4 volunteers, of whom I am one. We lend mobility scooters and wheelchairs for the day without charge, and charge minimally for overnight or longer periods. Last September we did a survey and asked our users how much they had spent in the shopping Centre. The total was not exact because we could not ask everyone, but it came to £3,800. So annually that is £45,600. The area will be losing that much business if we have to close. We have managed to raise £7,500 through the combined efforts of all of us, but especially through our manager, a remarkable young woman full of enthusiasm and energy.
People who have problems with mobility are, we all know, challenged to live a normal life. One solution is to get a wheelchair or a scooter, but if you live in a flat, or in a property with steps leading to your accommodation that is not possible. You can't leave the equipment out in the street, and it needs protection from the weather, as well as needing to be charged up and kept in good running order.
I am there three times a week, and I hear firsthand how much people value the scheme and how much it helps them. We have 482 members, and our service gives them the ability to do their shopping, go to the Doctor, meet up with friends, visit the library etc etc.
One of our customers said to me it was like having her legs back. I am disabled myself, and can very much empathise with that viewpoint. I am a keen cook, and without my borrowed scooter could not choose my vegetables and meat as I want to. Getting Christmas presents or birthday presents is much more difficult- the internet helps, but there is not a substitute for finding just the right thing for the right person.
Please support this petition. We are a small scheme, and have only been open for 6 years, and during that time have been moved twice, so new users cannot find us easily. Despite that we are increasing usage year on year. If Ealing cannot fund us the Shopping Centre will lose business, but more importantly the community will lose a facility that enriches the lives of many people.
