A message from The Dyslexia Foundation:

Personal development course for dyslexic adults. The course is free and delivered on a one-to-one basis. The commitment is 5 x 2hr sessions. The course is tailored to individual needs, but includes:

Mapping your own dyslexia to develop self-awareness
Locating and developing useful coping strategies
Learning about sources of support
Making plans for the future

If you think you might be interested in this course or would like to find out more, please phone (0151) 709 0545.

Attitude Is Everything is a charity that aims to improve Deaf and disabled people’s access to live music by working in partnership with audiences, artists and the music industry to implement a Charter of Best Practice. They run a Mystery Shopping project to gather information about the state of access in music venues and festivals across the country.

The quality of the recommendations they make and the subsequent improvements made to venues directly correlates with the quality of feedback they garner from our Mystery Shoppers and they are currently trying to ensure they take this feedback from as wide a range of Deaf and disabled customers as possible.

They are looking for Mystery Shoppers.

About Mystery Shopping

The Mystery Shopping Project is the keystone of their work. They have a team of Deaf and disabled ‘Mystery Shoppers’ across the UK who go to gigs, concerts and festivals and give feedback on what they experience. It is these reports that inform their work with music venues and festivals, both in the ongoing assessment of Charter venues and in discovering issues, both positive and negative, with other venues. They pass on feedback, helping venues to identify barriers and offering training and auditing services so that they may improve their access.

More Information

Please contact the Mystery Shopping Coordinator, Mandi Peers (mandi@attitudeiseverything.org.uk), for additional information. Please note that Mandi only works Wednesdays, 11am – 4pm. Other staff members will also be able to assist you – 020 7383 7979 in her absence.

Due to staff training, the DASH office will close thirty minutes early on Wednesday the 25th of January. They will reopen as normal Thursday morning.

The DASH/Shopmobility Market Stall is located in St Mary’s Market, St Mary’s Arcade off Church Street. Our stall is located between the uniform and sweetie stalls across from the cafe. We are stall number 55.

The market stall is open Mondays through Thursdays from 10am to 1:30pm. We are closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The stall can be used for general information and advice queries. We sell some small aids to daily living such as walking sticks, walking frames, rollators and triwalkers. We also sell RADAR Keys for accessible toilets.

If you require help filling in a form, it is best to ring 01744 453 053 on a Monday morning at 9am to book an appointment with an Information and Advice Officer at the main DASH office located in Windle Pilkington House.

Please note: The market stall will also be closed for two weeks starting August 22nd. We will reopen at 10am on September 5th.

St Helens People’s Choice have a “Safer in Town” card to assist people with learning disabilities in the local area. The initiative is part of the ‘Safer in Town’ scheme with the St Helens Hate Crime Partnership to empower people with learning difficulties to become more independent and stand up for their rights.

The card, or key ring, will contain useful telephone numbers in case of an accident, injury or crime and will run in association with the ‘Safer in Town’ sticker to be displayed in shop windows throughout St Helens. So far over 60 shops, cafes and other premises have signed up to the scheme. DASH is proud to be part of the scheme.

Cards will be available from the People’s Choice centre on the 2nd Floor of Tontine House, Church Street, St Helens. If you would like more information please contact John Horan from People’s Choice team on:

  01744 613853  

or email them at: 

shpeopleschoice@googlemail.com

All disabled people are entitled to an assessment to determine what types of aids and equipment they require. The following information applies to residents of St Helens, Merseyside, England. If you live in another part of the country the process may vary slightly and you should contact your own local council to see how they can best meet your individual needs.

How do I request an assessment?

Within St Helens you can ring up the council contact centre on 01744 456 789 and explain you wish to have an Occupational Therapy assessment. They will put you through to a service advisor who will ask you some questions including your personal details, if you have any carers or people who help you out around the home and what aids and equipment needs you feel you may have. That information will then be passed on to the Occupational Therapy Service. They aim to have an assessor contact you within 2 working days of receiving your request.

What is the assessment process like?

The first part of the assessment includes either a telephone conversation with the assessor or a questionnaire may be posted to your home if you wish. The information provided helps the assessor to determine whether or not you will benefit from any further services and how they might be able to help you. Sometimes they will determine you may benefit from simple equipment based on how you answer the questions and will not need to visit your home.

If it is deemed that you may benefit from more complex equipment or several items of equipment you may require a home visit. Someone will then contact you to arrange an appointment for this visit. The assessment will then be conducted by a member of the Occupational Therapy team. Examples of assessments that may require a home visit include those where the person has difficulty with bathing or several aspects of daily life such as toileting, feeding, dressing, general mobility and/or getting in and out of bed.

What types of equipment will I get and how will I get them?

Simple pieces of equipment (costing under £100) will often be prescribed to you. These prescriptions can be redeemed at accredited providers such as Shopmobility on Chalon Way Car Park, Aline Mobility on Claughton Street or Aids to Living on Warrington Road in Prescot. The Occupational Therapist will be able to give you an up to date list of accredited providers but I have listed some at the end of this post.

The prescription must be redeemed within one month of issue. You will get a brand new item of equipment. If you wish you can sometimes get a similar item with more features but you will have to pay the difference in price. If the equipment prescribed requires delivery you will have to arrange this with the accredited provider. Some accredited providers also offer delivery on prescribed equipment that is not marked by the OT as for delivery but may charge a fee for doing so.

The accredited retailer will explain how to fit the equipment and should also provide written instructions on how to do so. You will have to sign the prescription to show you have received it. The equipment then belongs to you and it is your responsibility to look after it.

More complex items of equipment usually costing over £100, electrically operated or specialist items will be made available on loan. The Occupational Therapist will order this type of equipment and arrange delivery to your home. They may also revisit you to provide training and check the suitability of the equipment once it has been delivered if they have not already instructed the delivery driver to do so. This equipment will be serviced and maintained by the community lone store as necessary.

What about adaptations?

Minor adaptations costing under £400 required for discharge from the hospital can be fitted in 48 hours or less but usually take between 7-56 working days once an order has been placed.

Major adaptations costing over £400 may be funded by a Disabled Facilities Grant if your financial situation warrants it. You may be asked to pay part or all the costs of major adaptations. DASH can help you search for other grants and sources of funding but can not guarantee that we will find one suitable to your needs.

Major adaptations include things such as:

• Ramps or Step Lift
• Stair Lift or Through the Floor Lift
• Driveway,  Hard Standing and Dropped Kerb
• Paths and Rails
• Track Lift
• Bathroom, Shower over the bath, Shower cubicle or Level access shower
• Toilet, Clos – O – Mat toilet or combined shower and toilet
• Kitchen
• Heating Adaptations

Adaptations for children:

Fencing, safe play areas, strengthened glass or specialist safety gate

Self Assessment

There is an online tool called AskSARA which can help you determine what aids and equipment you may benefit from in your own daily life. Most equipment available on prescription is also available to purchase should you decide you do not want to go the Occupational Therapy assessment route. The listed accredited providers below can sell you the items you wish to purchase should you chose to buy them privately.

Accredited Providers 

A Line Mobility, 58 Claughton Street, St Helens  WA10 1SN  Tel 01744 602602

A Line Mobility, Unit E1, Alexandra Street, Widnes  Tel 0151 423 3738

Aides to Living, 99 Warrington Road, Prescot L34 5ST  Tel 0151 426 1239

Aids4Mobility  Tel 08444 99 22 00   www.aids4mobility.co.uk

Boggianos Chemist, 101 Walmsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, WA10 5JW Tel 01744 20879

Bradlegh Road Pharmacy, Newton Community Hospital, Newton le Willows  WA12 8RB Tel 01925 223535

Disability Living Aids, 2 Cross Lane, Earlestown, Newton le Willows  Tel 01925 270083

Donlons Pharmacy, 155 Station Road, Haydock St Helens Tel 01744 25036

Garswood Pharmacy, Garswood Health Centre, Billinge Road, Garswood, Wigan  WN4 0XD

Haydock Mobility/VLC (stairlifts) Ltd, 366 Church Road, Haydock, St Helens Tel 01942 719565

Heatons Pharmacy, 21 Bassenthwaite Avenue, Moss Bank St Helens  WA11 7AB  Tel 01744 24941

Shopmobility, Chalon Way multi-storey car park, Chalon Way West, St Helens  Tel 01744 613388

Taylors Pharmacy, 210 West End Road, Haydock, St Helens  WA11 0AN

Useful Contacts

Care and Repair (Grab rails and other repairs) - 01744 671679

Occupational Therapy
St.Helens Council
2nd Floor, Wesley House
Corporation Street St.Helens
WA10 1HE

Fax number – 01744 676244

The Cinema Exhibitors’ Association runs a national scheme, that issues a card to disabled people confirming that the holder is entitled to one free ticket for someone accompanying them to the cinema.

To apply for the card the person must be able to provide proof that they either receive:

• Disability Living Allowance
• Attendance Allowance
• or are Registered Blind

 They must also supply a passport sized photo of themself and pay the processing fee of £5.50.

The card is valid for one year from the issue date.

Applications are available to download in either standard print or large print.

They also provide a list of participating cinemas.

For further information visit their website or contact them at:

The Card Network
Network House
St Ives Way
Sandycroft
CH5 2QS

Tel: 0845 123 1292
Fax: 0845 123 1296

Minicom / Text phone: 0845 123 1297

The Blue Badge Scheme varies slighty between, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. You should contact your local council for information about the scheme in your area. This information pertains mainly to the scheme in England and then more specifically St Helens in Merseyside.

The Blue Badge Scheme is an arrangement of on-street parking concessions for people with severe walking difficulties to drive or be passengers in a car and then park closer to their destination. People who are either registered severely sight impaired (Blind), who receive the higher mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), who receive War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement or applicants who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness or progressive cancer that has been confirmed by a health professional have an automatic eligibility to a Blue Badge.

If a person does not fall into one of the automatic eligibility categories they may still apply for a Blue Badge subject to further assessment if they are:

• A person over two years of age and they have a severe disability affecting both arms, and cannot use or find it difficult to use parking meters.
• A person over two years of age and are unable to walk or have considerable difficulty walking due to a permanent and substantial disability.
• A child under the age of two that has a medical condition requiring bulky medical equipment or has a condition that requires immediate access to a vehicle, in order to receive treatment for that condition in that vehicle, or require it to immediately take them to a place where they can receive treatment for that condition.

Changes will be made to the Blue Badge in this coming year. These changes will include:

• A change in the maximum fee that can be charged for a Blue Badge raising from £2 to £10.
• The design of the Blue Badge will be changed to make it harder to tamper with or forge.
• The number of disabled children and service personnel with conditions that will qualify for a Blue Badge will increase.

You can read more about these changes on The Department for Transport website. 

To apply for a Blue Badge or to renew a Blue Badge in St Helens you can obtain an application from Wesley House, by downloading it from the council’s website or by phoning the contact centre on 01744 456789. DASH occasionally has a limited number of application forms available. If you would like DASH to help you fill in the form, you can ring us to make an appointment on 01744 453 053.

Along with the application form, applicants are required to provide:

• Proof that they live in St Helens Borough in the form of a copy of a utility bill, rent book or council tax bill dated within the last three months.
• Confirmation of their identity in the form of a photocopy of their birth/adoption certificate, ID card, valid driving licence or passport.
• Two recent passport photographs with the date and applicant’s name printed and signed on the back (unless the applicant is terminally ill).
• The fee in the form of a cheque or postal order if you are posting you application back to the council. If you wish to pay in cash you must call into Wesley House or your nearest library.

If you do not fall into one of the automatic eligibilty categories most often you will be sent for a medical to deem whether you are entitled to the Blue Badge. Sometime after the medical the decision makers will notify you as to whether or not you have met the criteria for the Blue Badge.

Once you receive your Blue Badge:

You should display the Blue Badge where it can be clearly read through the windscreen of your vehicle. The front of the badge should face upwards, showing the wheelchair symbol.

You should be sent a parking clock with your Blue Badge. The parking clock must show your time of arrival and be displayed next to your Blue Badge when you park either:

• on yellow lines
• in other places where there is a time restriction

If there is a time restriction, the clock should be set to show the quarter hour period during which you arrived.

When no parking concessions are being used, Blue Badges should be removed from view.

The RADAR National Key Scheme (NKS) offers access for disabled people to around 9,000 public toilets around the country. The toilets are often locked to stop vandalism and misuse. RADAR Keys are able to be purchased to gain access to these toilets.

DASH sells RADAR Keys for accessible toilets. We have larger handled keys available for those that may benefit from this, such as people who suffer from arthritis in their hands. These are available to purchase through DASH for £3.50 at the DASH/Shopmobility market stall located in St Mary’s Market, St Helens Central Library, Shopmobility St Helens or from The Millennium Centre. If you are unable to get to any of these locations please phone DASH on 01744 453 053 to find out how to order a key through the post.

In order to receive a key an individual must provide their name and address or that of the person who will use the key and make a declaration stating that they or the individual named is chronically sick or has a disabling condition. Charities purchasing keys must also make a declaration in order to qualify for VAT relief. DASH now also sells a booklet listing accessible toilets located within or in close proximity to St Helens for an additional .50 pence. If you are not in St Helens and wish to purchase a key you can purchase one directly through RADAR. The toilets on the National Key Scheme are the property of the providers concerned, any queries or problems concerning a toilet should be directed to that provider.