Acorn Stairlifts donation helps mobility restricted couple stay together
Yorkshire-based Acorn Stairlifts has helped a couple who have been together for 70 years stay together with a free stairlift donation.
The donation for 95-year-old great-grandmother Joan King and her husband Ted – who celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary in October – is the latest in the five-year partnership between Yorkshire-based Acorn Stairlifts and Marie Curie, a UK charity for end-of-life care.
Under the partnership, Acorn installs up to 60 free stairlifts per year for Marie Curie patients. These donations enable patients to receive care at home with their loved ones and also help free up beds at Marie Curie Hospices for those in greatest need.
Joan was receiving support at home from the team at her local Marie Curie Hospice but struggled with the stairs due to limited mobility, breathlessness and poor eyesight as she awaits a cataracts operation. Her Marie Curie occupational therapist requested a stairlift under the partnership with Acorn and it was installed at their home in Penarth, near Cardiff, within two weeks.
The equipment means that Joan can be at home with Ted rather than in hospital. Ted also uses the stairlift to take his wife her morning cup of tea. Remaining at home also meant Joan and Ted could meet their great-granddaughter together for the first time following the installation of the stairlift.
Caren Larkman-Ayre, UK Sales Manager for Acorn Stairlifts, said: “Stories like Joan’s are the exact reason we joined forces with Marie Curie. We’re so pleased to be supporting the transformative work already undertaken by Marie Curie through our pioneering partnership.”
Sophie Rafter, Corporate Partnerships Officer at Marie Curie, added: “We’re thrilled to see what a difference our partnership with Acorn Stairlifts makes for people like Joan. It’s so rewarding to see the relief these stairlifts provide for their loved ones too, and we’re passionate about changing more lives as the partnership with Acorn Stairlifts continues.”
