mobility equipment £££££££££££ wow

colinone

I know this could be quite long winded and I’ll bet most of you have already come across this problem I call it ripping off the disabled. The cost of basic things for disabled people is often inflated to a cost that is 4 and 5 times higher than one would expect to pay. Even when you purchase through your occy health department and its not them adding on extra charges it’s the cost of the stuff.
Some good tips for finding cheap items or items you can utilise
Ebay is good and often cheaper than the local disabled shop or mobility shop but the best place of all is the £1 shop. I went to the local mobility shop for a jar / bottle opener along with some eating irons (knife fork and spoon)The opener £8.50 and KFS £19.99 well it did have wide handles on the KFS what a rip off. Needless to say I never bought them. However having looked in the type of shops and internet shops that sell this type of stuff it is much of a muchness. Some months later I decided my hands had become so bad I needed the KFS or should I say my wife decided for me as I was scaring the kids lol. Anyway to cut a long story short on our way we stopped at the £1 shop in the town centre Keeping it short again there I found the jar/bottle opener £1 not for one but a pack of 2 almost identical to the ones in the mobility shop
Not only did I get those but guess what eating irons in a pack of five with nice fat handles knife fork spoon Desert fork and desert spoon for £1 they are great. A long handled shoe horn with hook on the end can get shoes on shoes off, socks off. It will also push clothes off your shoulder and reach under the bed. I bought a set of five BBQ skewers with wooden handles about a foot long tuned the ends over to form a hook great for all sorts of things. Now as silly as it may sound you have seen my post on itching. I don’t know what its called but I bought one of those things for getting poached eggs out of the pan shaped like a claw £1 and hey it looks really posh, but what a scratcher. Gloves one size fits all, moulds around my bent fingers £1
Well I just thought I would pass the info on to my new found friends and I will never understand how our government allows mobility and disabled shops to make money out of us. All shops of this sort should be subsidised and when I become prime minister it’s the first thing I will do. Hears a thing for you if the disabled and elderly got together they would form the biggest group of people in the country. Perhaps the word disabled and what it means deserves another post. Ill leave that down to you.
Take care Colin

suzster

just a quickie! if you do have to go to mobility type shops you can get things less tax if you are buying for personal use! only know because lady in our local mobility shop told me! just ask the shop when buying!!
but i know what you mean on prices, i had to get a spoon, fork and knife due to not being able to hold normal ones and they cost me loads, tried ordering online but they where useless, took my payment but never sent right stuff so had a long winded time to get money back, grrr!!
i struggle with knifes though, can't grip them and cut with them, even the big handled angled ones are impossible for me, so if anyone knows of easier knifes to cut with please let me know!!!
my other issue is when out having meals, i really struggle cutting up my food but don't want to look daft asking hubby to cut it up for me! oh the joys of arthur!!

colinone

suzster wrote:

just a quickie! if you do have to go to mobility type shops you can get things less tax if you are buying for personal use! only know because lady in our local mobility shop told me! just ask the shop when buying!!
but i know what you mean on prices, i had to get a spoon, fork and knife due to not being able to hold normal ones and they cost me loads, tried ordering online but they where useless, took my payment but never sent right stuff so had a long winded time to get money back, grrr!!
i struggle with knifes though, can't grip them and cut with them, even the big handled angled ones are impossible for me, so if anyone knows of easier knifes to cut with please let me know!!!
my other issue is when out having meals, i really struggle cutting up my food but don't want to look daft asking hubby to cut it up for me! oh the joys of arthur!!

Hi Suzster your best bet is B+Q you can buy pipe lagging lol, no its the truth, it comes in long strips about 2mtr for £1.99 is a typy of hard foam type stuff and comes in all different diameters, You cut it into strips and slot them over the knife handle, My local OH dept stock it but it is expensive from them. You take the knife or whatever to B=Q and just try it in the pipe for the right fit it really does work ask hubby to look next time he goes. Now if its one of those big carving knives for the Sunday joint it might be a good idea not to wave it about to much inside B+Q
On the seriouse side eating can be a major problem and if its not sorted can be embarrising or stressful to say the least. Its great having the big grips then you have to get it to your mouth lol. there are all types shapes and sizes KFS on the market but boy are they expencive. Take care and thanks for you time
Colin

livinglegend

Just a comment, Specialist Markets = Specialist Costs.

The problem is that you have to specially design and manufacture for the disabled market, perhaps just twenty of an object per year, while making thousands of a standard object is much more flexible, cheaper and easier to sell. Then you have the problem of storage. Some disabled equipment could be on the shelf for a long time and a slight change in regulations and its scrap and you can't sell it. This could be weeks/months after the retailer has paid the manufacturer for it. It all has to be paid for. :P

Shop around for what you want. At the moment, with not much money around, every cost cutting idea is useful.

I have done the same with the pipe lagging, as commented on, to make things easier to hold if needed and luckily I got a set of bottle grips from a charity shop for a pound. So I am in good company.

Joseph 8)

petmad

I found I could not use the jar openenrs as my hand wonnt go wide enough. I had a role of that plastic weave stuff for anti slip on the shelves of our caravan. Great as jar or bottle opener. Also if folded thickly to turn tap on or off. Yes I got the stuff from the £1 shop

New use for long handled shoe horn. I live on my own and often need to put pain relieving gel on my back. Well I find the outer curve smooth enough to put the gel on and they are easily washed to keep hygenic.

When I go out, I just accept I need someone to help cut my food on occasions. I feel if others find this a problem then I am not going to let it bother me. It is weird but I can accept this yet loads of other things about this new state of disability bother me...the big thing being when outside I cannot perform the contortions needed to tie my shoe laces. I hate having to allow someone to do that for me.

plmb48

suzster wrote:

just a quickie! if you do have to go to mobility type shops you can get things less tax if you are buying for personal use! only know because lady in our local mobility shop told me! just ask the shop when buying!!
but i know what you mean on prices, i had to get a spoon, fork and knife due to not being able to hold normal ones and they cost me loads, tried ordering online but they where useless, took my payment but never sent right stuff so had a long winded time to get money back, grrr!!
i struggle with knifes though, can't grip them and cut with them, even the big handled angled ones are impossible for me, so if anyone knows of easier knifes to cut with please let me know!!!
my other issue is when out having meals, i really struggle cutting up my food but don't want to look daft asking hubby to cut it up for me! oh the joys of arthur!!

i have an L shaped knife you rock it to cut still expensive but hay ho .

colinone

plmb48 wrote:

suzster wrote:

just a quickie! if you do have to go to mobility type shops you can get things less tax if you are buying for personal use! only know because lady in our local mobility shop told me! just ask the shop when buying!!
but i know what you mean on prices, i had to get a spoon, fork and knife due to not being able to hold normal ones and they cost me loads, tried ordering online but they where useless, took my payment but never sent right stuff so had a long winded time to get money back, grrr!!
i struggle with knifes though, can't grip them and cut with them, even the big handled angled ones are impossible for me, so if anyone knows of easier knifes to cut with please let me know!!!
my other issue is when out having meals, i really struggle cutting up my food but don't want to look daft asking hubby to cut it up for me! oh the joys of arthur!!

i have an L shaped knife you rock it to cut still expensive but hay ho .

That sounds great " keep on rocking"
Colin
ps do you do it to music