Wandsworth Shopmobility were delighted last week to receive 6 state of the art mobility scooters and a wheelchair from the Mayor’s Olympic Legacy Project. They were used during the Olympics for disabled visitors to access the games and have now been passed on to voluntary organisations across the Capital.
“It is great to be part of the Olympic legacy” said Shopmobility Manager Marcia Millington, “especially as we were involved in running the accessible shuttles at the time and were great supporters of the whole event. It also means we now have some spare capacity and can loan out to people in the borough who want a scooter to have at home. The new scooters will keep us going for several years and the customers love them!”
The scooters were presented at an event at City Hall and the picture shows Marcia (on the right) with scooter user Joy Rogers, the Statutory Deputy Mayor of London, Victoria Borwick, and of course the inimitable mascot for the 2012 games, Wenlock!
Anyone wishing to take advantage of the new scooters or who needs transport or a volunteer to go shopping, should call Marcia on 020 8875 9585 to find out more.
Background Information
- The 6 mobility scooters and one wheelchair were provided by the Mayor’s Olympic Legacy Project and delivered on 26th April 2013.
- Wandsworth Shopmobility is based at Sainsbury’s Supermarket Garratt Lane SW18, and is operated by Wandsworth Community Transport (WCT) and funded by Wandsworth Borough Council. They won the Queens Golden Jubillee Award in 2002.
- Wandsworth Shopmobility provides electric scooters and manual wheelchairs along with volunteers to push them. It also runs a door-to-door accessible minibus service that takes elderly and disabled Wandsworth residents to the Town Centre.
- WCT has over 1000 passenger members, and most of these regularly use their Shopmobility service. Latest figures show that more than 11,000 return passenger trips are completed each year. The 90 volunteers involved in the project, help by driving the minibuses and pushing wheelchairs etc.
- WCT provides accessible minibuses to community groups and individuals in Wandsworth. In addition, WCT offers trips to elderly and disabled residents of the borough. Application forms for membership may be obtained by telephoning WCT on 020-8675 3812.