East Kilbride’s lifeline Shopmobility charity has been saved with the service opening back up to vulnerable shoppers from today (June 1).
The news comes following a funding award from town centre management EK, East Kilbride to local charity, Healthy and Active in East Kilbride, who run the Shopmobility service for elderly and disabled customers.
The charity has served thousands of vulnerable shoppers in East Kilbride for nearly two decades but was forced to take the “difficult and emotional” decision to suspend the town’s vital service on May 1 due to a lack of funding.
EK, East Kilbride had not yet had its budget confirmed for this financial year leaving the service “unsustainable” for the charity which had been self-funding Shopmobility for several weeks.
The charitable service is run by staff and volunteers, and offers manual and powered wheelchairs and scooters on loan to members of the public with limited mobility.
Funding has been secured for the service to operate 20 hours per week (Tuesday to Saturday) over the coming year.
Lesley MacIntyre, Healthy and Active director, told Lanarkshire Live: “Healthy and Active in East Kilbride and EK East Kilbride are pleased that funding has been confirmed to allow Shopmobility to open again.
“Shopmobility in EK town centre is a vital service and we look forward to welcoming our service users once again.”
Disabled former NHS nurse Nicola Hocking told the News how she had been “left housebound” and “lost her lifeline” following the collapse of the vital local service.
She was left suicidal during lockdown and told us she feared for her mental health following the sudden closure of Shopmobility East Kilbride.
Nicola was terrified of how the loss of Shopmobility would impact her and many other disabled and elderly people in East Kilbride who “rely on the service” for their quality of life.
Commenting on the news, Nicola said: “You can not understand how happy I am with this news. I’m actually crying with relief and happiness. Although it is only funded until the end of the year, it gives the charity and its service users time to do what we can to ensure funding continues.
“I will continue to do what I can to help in anyway possible. I am just so happy and I’m sure the staff, volunteers and other users will be as well. All the staff and volunteers are amazing. I don’t think people actually realise how much they actually do for our community.
“Thank you so much for sharing our story and how important Healthy and Active is to our community.”
A spokesperson for EK, East Kilbride said: “The past few years have been extremely difficult for the charity sector, as they have been for the retail industry and town centres across the country.
“These are unprecedented times and we have been working hard to continue to build on our community work and support local charities where we can.
“There are a huge number of pressures on the centre’s finances, however, we are pleased to have found a solution whereby we can continue to offer funding support to Healthy and Active over the coming year as they continue to look for additional sources of finance.”
In addition to the funding award, EK, East Kilbride will continue to provide rent free access to The Meeting Place unit in the Olympia and also to the Connected East Kilbride unit, where Shopmobility has indicated it will locate its office facilities.
Working from two sites in the town centre (Centre West and the Hub/Olympia), Healthy and Active East Kilbride originally launched as East Kilbride and District Shopmobility in 2003.
A programme of mental health support is just one strand of a suite of services that, combined, are used over 40,000 times a year.
There is a minibus collection and pick up service available to registered users from Monday to Friday.
They also have kiddy cabs for small children, a minibus service and The Meeting Place community hub.
Building on the foundation Shopmobility facility, the Meeting Place was introduced in 2012.
Over the years this important community hub/cafe has grown to become a lifeline service for thousands of ageing and disabled service users, who, prior to the coronavirus situation, would regularly meet up for a coffee and the chance to share stories with friends.
The Meeting Place also offers a range of complementary services, including arts and crafts, IT classes and games sessions.
A range of health and wellbeing services have also proved extremely popular over the years with tai chi, health walks, self-management courses, complementary therapies, podiatry, physio and acupuncture on offer.
Anyone wishing to find out more about Healthy and Active and/or the Shopmobility Service should contact 01355 571300.