Good News! Tesco Tries the GoTo Shop Disability Trolley

Tesco will trial the GoTo Shop in three stores, Bury St. Edmunds, Kettering and Faversham.

Tesco will assess the GoTo Shop’s suitability in-store and its popularity with families, who will have one day to try the GoTo Shop in each store.

The news is a huge boost for the Firefly’s GoTo Shop Campaign, as it aims to make shopping easier for parents of children with disabilities.

Although many supermarkets have disability trolleys, they are often not supportive or secure enough for children.

So it is fantastic news that Tesco is taking steps to make shopping more accessible and convenient for families.

The GoTo Shop Campaign’s goal is to get at least one in #EverySupermarket in the UK and Ireland.

Claire Smyth, Firefly’s past Community Manager, said:

“We are delighted to hear Tesco is trialling the GoTo Shop.

It’s another step forward towards making shopping accessible for all families.

There’s a long way to go in this campaign and we need all the support we can get, but a breakthrough like this is very encouraging.”

You can support GoTo Shop Campaign when you download the campaign leaflet and hand it in to your local store.

#EverySupermarket

Special Needs Fundraising: Make-A-Wish Foundation (UK)

Since its beginning in 1986, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted over 9,000 wishes to seriously ill children and young people.

A ‘Wish’ is an opportunity for seriously ill children to enjoy extraordinary experiences, something they only thought possible in their dreams.

It’s an individual and memorable experience for each child.

Make-A-Wish Foundation has specific criteria for Wish granting.

Children need to be UK residents aged between 3 and 17 years old.

They can not have received a Wish from Make-A-Wish previously or any other wish-granting organisation.

The charity will speak to the child’s Paediatrician to confirm that his or her condition is considered life-threatening.

Make-A-Wish accept referrals from parents and guardians and medical professionals.

They also accept referrals from the children themselves.

If you would like to refer your child or a child you know you are encouraged to complete and return the Make-A-Wish referral form.

The child’s parents or guardians will be required to sign the medical release form allowing Make-A-Wish to write to the child’s medical professional.

Once the charity has spoken to the child’s medical professional to confirm that the condition is life-threatening then a form will be sent to the child’s family to gather more information.

When this form has been returned a specially trained volunteer will visit the family to find out more about the child’s ‘Wish’.

Wishes are limited to within Europe.

Make-A-Wish has granted an amazing array of wishes including meeting Messi, becoming a Zoo Keeper for the day, going to the Grand Prix, holidays and specialist equipment.

To find out more about Make-A-Wish visit the website here.

Special Needs Fundraising: Newlife Play Therapy Pods

There is nothing more disheartening than being asked at Birthdays or Christmases what your child would like and just not being able to answer because you really don’t know.

Perhaps your child has one toy that he or she just adores and you continue to replace it regularly.

You’ve learnt over the years that there’s no point wasting money buying endless amounts of toys with the hope that he or she might just show an interest in something new.

Experience has shown you that the more expensive the toy the less likely they are to enjoy it!

But, the hope that you will find something new never leaves you and you continue to search through catalogues, read blog posts, google and join social media groups to try to find something new.

If this sounds familiar and you are a special needs family based in the United Kingdom, you should consider applying for a Newlife Play Therapy Pod.

Each Play Therapy Pod contains around £400 of equipment and comes with interaction ideas to give families guidance on how to use the equipment as part of interactive play and developmental programmes.

With the the Newlife play specialist, Newlife has developed and expanded the service so they now have more than 130 Pods in circulation, offering equipment for children with physical, behavioural and learning disabilities.

All Pods are available on 12-week loans, delivered direct to families’ homes.

They fall into two age categories – under and over-fives – with targeted equipment for tactile, visual, interactive and auditory needs in each age group.

Application for a Newlife Play Therapy Pod is straightforward with a short application and telephone interview.

Once you have signed and returned the terms and conditions the Newlife Play Therapy Pod is delivered to your home at a time that is convenient to you and collected 12 weeks later.

The Newlife Play Therapy Pod gives families an amazing opportunity to ‘try before buying’ a wide range of specialist toys and aids that are targeted at very specific and complex needs.

The guidance sheets provided are an excellent resource for parents to understand how to get the most out of each toy.

So with the help of Newlife Play Therapy Pods there should be fewer boxes of unused toys with parents now able to see exactly which toys their child enjoys the most before making their purchases.

To find out more about the Play Therapy Pod Service watch this short video.

To apply for a Newlife Play Therapy Pod contact the Newlife Nurse Helpline on freephone 0800 902 0095 or email [email protected]

Or complete the application form (PDF) on the website and return it to Newlife.

Special Needs Days Out: 10 UK Tourist Attractions with a Changing Places Toilet

Cadbury World, Birmingham

Cadbury World boosts 15 zones, we like the sound of,”Chocolate Adventure”, the best!

The Changing Places toilet is located on the ground floor within the main reception and can be accessed using a radar key.

Heely City Farm, Sheffield

Heely City Farm describes itself as a friendly farm and environmental visitor centre.

The Changing Places toilet at Heely City Farm is in the main block of toilets beside the Children’s Playground.

Chester Zoo, Chester

1.4 million people visit Chester Zoo every year to see their 12,000 animals in 110 acres of zoological gardens.

The Changing Places toilet at Chester Zoo is located in the Jubilee Toilet block next to the Jubilee Monorail station.

The toilet is open at all times throughout the day.

Find out what’s happening this summer at Chester Zoo by visiting the website.

The Eden Project, Cornwall

The Eden Project is an educational charity that connects us to the natural world.

It’s world famous Biomes house the largest captive rainforest, it has an all-year family events programme.

The Eden Project Changing Places toilet is on the ground floor at the public entrance.

Follow the link to visit The Eden Project website and find out what’s on when you visit.

Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim

The Giant’s Causeway is a National Trust World Heritage Site with an award winning visitor centre and packed full of activities for all ages.

The Changing Places toilet is located in the main block of toilets in the Visitor Centre.

It is locked, ask a member of staff for the key.

Find out what’s happening at the Giant’s Causeway this summer by visiting the website.

Camperdown Country Park, Dundee

With 28 types of animals at Camperdown Country Park and lots of great activities for all ages this sounds like a fantastic day out.

Camperdown Park is a public park, its Changing Places toilet is located on the ground floor within its suite of toilets.

Alice Holt Forest, Surrey

Walk, cycle or play in the woods at Alice Holt Forest in Surrey.

It’s Changing Places toilet is located on the ground floor of the new visitor centre and can be accessed via radar key, which is available at reception.

Marwell Wildlife, Hampshire

Marwell Wildlife is 140 acre park with 3 adventure playgrounds, a train and a wide variety of animals.

The Marwell Wildlife Changing Places toilet is in the main block of toilets and can be opened by radar key.

Blackpool Tower, Blackpool

Blackpool Tower is one of the UK’s most well known tourist venues and boosts 5 main attractions.

Including Blackpool Tower Eye, Jungle Jim’s, Blackpool Tower Ballroom, Blackpool Tower Dungeon and Blackpool Tower Circus.

The Blackpool Tower Changing Places toilet is located on the third floor of Blackpool Tower which is the Ballroom level.

It can be accessed by lift and is kept locked.

The radar key is available at the staff entrance or the Ballroom.

You will need to pay an entrance fee to Blackpool Tower to use this Changing Places toilet.

Eureka! The National Children’s Museum, Halifax

Eureka! is an interactive children’s museum which is fun for the whole family.

It was recently named as the UK’s top Interactive Exhibition for Children by Mumsnet.

The Changing Places toilet at Eureka! is located on the ground floor.

Visit the Eureka! website for more information on opening hours.

Radar Keys

The National Key Scheme (NKS) offers disabled people independent access to locked public toilets around the country.

Toilets fitted with National Key Scheme (NKS) locks can now be found in shopping centres, pubs, cafés, department stores, bus and train stations and many other locations in most parts of the country.

Costs:

VAT Exempt – £4.50

With VAT – £5.40

European delivery – £5.40

Rest of world delivery – £6.50

You can purchase a Radar Key here and find out more about the scheme.

Space to Change: Raising Awareness

Claire had been invited to speak at the AGM by Peter Murray, Centre Manager at Buttercrane Shopping Centre in Newry.

Peter has forged ahead with improvements to Buttercrane Shopping Centre following the launch of the Space to Change campaign by providing Green Level Space to Change for families with children who have toileting needs.

Buttercrane Shopping Centre added a large changing mat to their largest disabled toilet facility while they worked on further improvements to provide Orange Level Space to Change, which will include a height adjustable changing bench.

Peter was keen to help raise awareness of the Space to Change Campaign and invited Claire, as a local Space to Change Champion, to the AGM of the Northern Ireland Region of Shopping Centres (NIRSC).

NIRSC represents and promotes the shopping centre industry in Northern Ireland.

Claire spoke to the group of shopping centre representatives about the difficulties she faces when changing her disabled son Daniel, aged 6 on family days out and shopping trips.

‘My aim was really just to encourage the people I was talking to to think about some of the challenges that special needs families face and to ask themselves if there was something they could do within their shopping centres to make life easier especially around their toilet facilities.’

Claire also used the opportunity to raise awareness of the Changing Places campaign.

As a Space to Change Champion, Claire has focused on the venues that she visits with her family but as the Space to Change Campaign has grown and interest is growing Claire is being invited on a regular basis to talk about the campaign.

To help her do this, Firefly would like to recruit more Champions across the country.

If you are interested in finding out more about the role of a Space to Change Champion get in touch!

For more information about the Northern Ireland Region of Shopping Centres.

Visit our campaign pages to find out more about Space to Change.

Special Needs Family Days Out: Time for a change?

I haven’t need to use them myself and since we’ve been thrust into the bonkers world that is being a parent of a severely disabled child, my son has been little enough to be changed in the same way as his non-disabled peers.

This easier time is fast coming to an end.

We don’t anticipate our son to toilet train.

He is 13.5kg and quite tall.

His legs dangle uncomfortably over the end of the baby changers.

I’m not entirely sure on their maximum weight limit, but some do not look sturdy enough for my boy.

I’ve known about the Changing Places campaign for over a year, but haven’t acknowledged it as we could get away with changing him in baby changing facilities.

Changing Places is pushing for fully accessible toilets that truly meet the needs of 230,000 people in the UK with a range of disabilities, including 40,000 people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, of which my son is one.

To be an accredited toilet a Changing Place needs to have a height adjustable adult size changing bench, hoist system, enough space for the disabled person and 2 carers, a toilet that can have a carer on either side, a curtain for extra privacy, disposable paper to cover the bench and an appropriate bin.

As you would expect with a child with complex health needs, my son has a lot of medical appointments and a range of different consultants and professionals.

We recently had a very long day at Southampton General Hospital (SGH).

We travelled for an hour each way, went to three separate clinics, plus a blood test.

In total, our day out was nearly 9 hours long.

SGH serves 1.9 million people living in the local area, plus a further 3.7 million people across Southern England for things like neurosciences, cardiac and children’s intensive care.

They employ over 10,000 members of staff.

During our day my son needed his nappy changing a few times.

We know where the conventional disabled loos with baby changing are, and can often change him in the weighing and measuring room in the outpatients department.

However, we ran into some difficulty during this visit.

Firstly, outpatients was very busy, so we felt we couldn’t jump in and ask to change him when the staff had a backlog to clear.

Twice we went to the Parent and Baby room, which has a secure sideboard, it was locked and we couldn’t find a member of staff to open it.

We waited outside a disabled toilet which has a metal fold down changer, on 2 occasions, for 10 minutes.

Obviously people are entitled to go to the loo, disabled people with decreased mobility may take longer, but we began to suspect it was out of order and the sign had fallen off.

We went to find another baby changing toilet.

When we did we discovered the plastic fold down changer was in an alcove and there was no room for my lanky boy to dangle his legs.

It was made of plastic and didn’t appear as sturdy as the metal one we’ve used before.

We were left with two choices: the floor or, thankfully, a bit of sideboard by the sink.

We pumped for the sink.

Looking back now maybe we should have headed back to outpatients and asked them to help us.

Nearly every consultation room has a bed in it, although most of them were in use.

However, should we have to make a song and dance every time he needs his nappy changed?

Telling people he’s gone to the toilet, trying to find a room available? Would we want that if we needed to go for a wee?

What about a child who is older and more aware than my son?

Or an adult?

There is certainly no dignity in having to be changed on a floor, is there any more dignity in having to share personal details with complete strangers?

I was genuinely surprised that there is no Changing Places facility at SGH.

I would expect such a large hospital, covering such a wide area, to be at the forefront of patient care and disability awareness.

I can think of another 4 children I know under SGH care who require the type of facilities of a Changing Places.

Intrigued I went to the Changing Places website which has details of toilets.

There are 735 Changing Places in the UK.

A quick scroll showed me that 22 of them are in hospitals.

I’ve tried to find out how many hospitals there are in the UK to put this into perspective, but that seems to be a challenging and complex question.

Loosely, there are 168 ‘acute trusts’, which are a board that manage hospitals, in England alone.

Without having to sit down with a calculator I can see the maths does not add up.

Healthcare providers are not providing suitable changing facilities.

Yet, others are, and in some surprising places.

The nearest Changing Place to SGH is West Quay, a shopping centre a few miles away.

The Trafford Centre in Manchester.

Lots of libraries and leisure centres.

Some leisure centres even have 2; for poolside and dry side activities.

Car parks.

The Tate Modern.

The NEC.

An ASDA and a Tesco.

Glastonbury Festival brings in a mobile Changing Places Unit.

But not a hospital that serves nearly 6 million people.

The Changing Places that gets me really excited is at Alice Holt, a Forestry Commission wood in Hampshire.

We can go there as a family and go for a walk, things we’d planned to do when we discovered we were going to have a child but have found hard due to his needs.

Yet we can also go to a lovely room which is heated and change my son in dignity.

You can find out about the Changing Places campaign here and they also have a Facebook page.

Firefly has a campaign called, ‘Space to Change’, where you can learn more.

Charity & Grant Funding: Family Fund

Family Fund: Who Do They Help?

The Family Fund help families living in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales who are raising a disabled or seriously ill child or young person under the age of 17.

To apply you must show evidence of your entitlement to the following: Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit, Employment Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and Pension Credit.

If you do not receive any of the above, you may be asked to provide further information to complete your application.

You must also have a permanent legal residency in the UK and have lived in the UK for six months.

The Family Fund are unable to help children and young people in local authority care, including those living with foster carers or where a statutory agency has a responsibility to pay for the item needed.

Family Fund: Eligibility Criteria

To meet the Family Fund’s disability criteria, children and young people must have additional complex needs, or have a serious or life threatening illness.

There must be evidence that the child or young person’s additional needs impact on a family’s choices and their opportunity to enjoy ordinary life.

The degree of planning and support required to meet their needs must also be much greater than that usually required to meet the needs of children and young people.

They must also require a high level of support in three or more of the following areas:

The physical environment
Education
Communication
Access to social activities
Personal care, supervision and vigilance
Specialist resources, including Information and Communications Technology, required
Medical or therapeutic treatment and condition managemenet

The child or young person’s condition must be long-term or life limiting.

By, “long-term”, we mean lasting or likely to last more than 12 months.

Family Fund: How Do They Help?

The Family Fund can provide a wide range of items from washing machines to equipment needed for college age children, holiday vouchers to days out.

On occasions they are not able to fund the full cost of items requested.

Check out some of the families who have received help from the Family Fund on their website.

Family Fund: How Often Do They Help?

The Family Fund aim to will accept grant applications on an annual basis.

Family Fund: How to Apply?

Applications for a Family Fund grant can be made by the parent or carer of the disabled child or young person.

Young people aged 16 and 17 can make an application in their own right.

Applying for the first time?

Download the application forms and terms and conditions – complete the forms and send back the information requested.

To request an application pack visit the website here.

Applying again?

If you’ve been helped by the Family Fund previously, the letter you received confirming your Family Fund grant tells you when they can consider a further application.

This is usually 12 months from the date of your last grant but may be longer.

If you have applied before you may be able to register for an online account.

You will be asked to send and up to date household income confirmation so Family Fund can confirm you still meet their income criteria.

Family Fund: What To Expect After You Apply

Once the Family Fund has received your application they will check that it meets their eligibility criteria.

They may arrange for a home visit or telephone assessment from an Independent Assessor.

All applications are looked at in date order.

It takes 3 to 4 months depending on the volumes of applications and funding available at any particular time.

GoTo Shop Campaign

Dear Store Manager,

I really struggle with both the standard and disability trolleys that are available in most supermarkets.

Neither provides Daniel with the trunk support he needs.

It is also impossible for me to lift him in to a standard trolley, as he’s just too heavy and tall now.

This leaves me with very few options; doing my weekly shopping online, leaving Daniel at home while I go shopping, or settling for buying what I can carry as I push his wheelchair.

If doing the weekly shopping is also a challenge for your family, then you will be interested in hearing about the GoTo Shop Trolley!

The GoTo Shop is an adapted trolley for children with special needs that provides extra postural support and a secure five-point harness.

It has been a huge success with parents who have tried it, but unfortunately only one of the major supermarkets currently uses it – Sainsbury’s.

If like me, you would love to have the option of shopping where and when you want to, then we need to work together to tell every supermarket about the difference a GoTo Shop Trolley can make to our lives.

It would be amazing if you could add your name to these flyers and hand them in to your local supermarket managers.

That’s all.

Let’s raise awareness of the challenges we face in our daily lives as special needs parents.

By showing how simple solutions can make a huge difference to families like ours we can encourage our supermarkets to provide GoTo Shop Trolleys.

Help make your voice heard.

Our goal is to have a GoTo Shop Trolley in every supermarket across the UK and Ireland serving the special needs community.

Yours,

Claire

PS. Email, Tweet or Facebook us photos of you handing in the leaflet at your local store!

For more information visit here.

Let’s Make Grocery Shopping Easier for Special Needs Families

Are we the only parents who feel a tinge of jealousy watching that adorable family across the restaurant whose little one has the muscle tone to support himself in the restaurant-provided high chair that our toddler can’t use?

Why does it seem as though catering to the group of special needs children in public places hasn’t been thought of yet?

Our current grocery store trip looks like this:

1. Mom assesses grocery list and decides if all items can fit in tote bag or if a cart is absolutely necessary

2. If tote bag will suffice, mom removes stroller from trunk, hooks straps of tote bag over stroller handle….or grab cart if necessary

3. Place 19-month-old in stroller…or lay him in the back of the cart on a blanket

4. Beg 3-year-old to behave and walk next to me without crying

5. Fill tote bag with all items on grocery list but equalling less than the weight of child/stroller combo to avoid tipping the stroller (yes, I figured that out the hard way one day) – or strategically balance and stack all items around toddler laying in the back of the cart

6. Unload, pay for, and load groceries and children into the car followed by immediately breaking into the chocolate bar that was calling your name in the checkout line

I just want to get my groceries and get out as fast as any other mom!

Can’t it be any easier than this?!

What can we as parents do to give our child a “normal” experience?

Cue the amazing company called Firefly!

This company has given a big dose of “normal” back to our family as we are learning to adjust to meeting the ever-changing needs of our growing boy.

We currently possess a Firefly GoTo Seat.

With the GoTo Seat I was able to put my three-year-old and 19-month-old in the shopping cart together for our trip to the grocery store this week.

I nearly cried, but laughed instead and took an absurd amount of pictures in every aisle on my phone, forgetting half of the items on my list because I was overjoyed at the reality that my children, both of them, were having a “normal” experience!

My daughter shared in my joy as she said from the cart, “I always wanted to sit with my brother in here!”

This was a reminder to me that I’m not the only one searching for “normal.”

Our daughter wants it for her brother, too.

It’s a family thing.

We just want to be able to grocery shop and go out for dinner like everyone else.

If you want your local store to order our specially designed GoTo Shop trolley seat, make you voice heard by going here