Allied Mobility supports charity providing improved accessible facilities for disabled people
Wheelchair accessible vehicle supplier Allied Mobility, through the Allied Vehicles Charitable Trust, has donated £2,000 to a charity working to break down barriers which often prevent disabled people from fully participating in public life.
Vehicles for Change, who operate under the name RevoLOOtion, are working to provide improved accessible facilities for disabled people across the UK.
Standard accessible toilets are often unsuitable and inaccessible for many disabled people, usually lacking changing benches or manual handling hoists, and most are too small to accommodate more than one person.
This leaves families or carers with no choice but to attend to those they support on an often-dirty toilet floor. Without fully accessible facilities, disabled people, and those who assist them, are put at risk and their dignity is impacted.
RevoLOOtion seeks to solve this problem. Their specially adapted mobile units, known as RevoLOOs, contain a toilet with retractable rails on both sides, an electric hoist to enhance accessibility, and a height-adjustable changing table. Each one also comes with a driver/attendant who sets everything up and keeps it clean and hygienic.
Phil Tansley, CEO of Vehicles for Change, expressed his thanks for the Allied Mobility donation, saying, “Over a quarter of a million people in the UK are unable to use a standard accessible toilet. If people are unable go to the toilet during a day out, they simply stop going out; this leads to leads to exclusion, isolation, loneliness, and poor mental wellbeing.
“The support of the Allied Vehicles Charitable Trust will make a great difference to our charity. This donation will help fund important running costs which are vital to our efforts to ensure disabled people can access as wide a range of events and activities as possible.”
The current economic climate has seen RevoLOOtion’s cost of operating rise with inflation, and the ongoing cost of living crisis has impacted their ability to raise funds through public donations.
Partially funded through private sector hires, the charity must still raise an additional £50,000 per year to support running costs and attendance at charitable and public sector events which would otherwise be unable to engage their services.
Despite these challenges, in the last year alone RevoLOOtion has made a significant difference, facilitating over 5,000 disabled individuals’ participation in 1,000 events they might have had to miss due to lack of suitable amenities.
Ben Jenkins, National Sales Manager at Allied Mobility, was keen to acknowledge the work that Vehicles for Change are doing with the RevoLOOtion initiative. He commented: “Our company motto is ‘We move people and make a difference to their lives.’
“In that spirit we are delighted to support RevoLOOtion, whose work in helping to reduce social isolation and improve wellbeing for disabled people, aligns so closely with our own.”
Allied Mobility is part of Glasgow-based manufacturer Allied Vehicles Group. Most recently, the firm partnered with the Glasgow Warriors rugby union team to enhance accessibility services and inclusion at its events.
