Users of the “essential lifeline” Shopmobility service in Coatbridge have told how they will be impacted by its forthcoming closure, saying that its loss will “take our independence off us”.
The town’s mobility hub and its sister facility in Motherwell will both shut on October 28 after their operator, the Health and Wellness Hub, announced that it was no longer financially viable to run the service – which costs £64,000 per year and has been losing £5000 per month since April.
Disabled people who hire scooters and wheelchairs from the two centres will stage a protest at the Coatbridge venue next week and are demanding that North Lanarkshire Council resume funding the scheme, as it did before transferring its running to the charity in 2019.
Margaret and John Sharp are both regular users of the Coatbridge mobility hub and say being able to hire scooters will prevent them being able to access health appointments, shops and social activities around the town centre.
The mum and son both have muscular dystrophy while John, 56, is also paralysed down his right side after suffering a stroke 12 years ago which meant he had to leave his job in London and move back to his hometown.
John told Lanarkshire Live: “My quality of life will immediately be down by 50 per cent if the mobility hub closes and it’s the same for the rest of the service users – if it goes, it will be a disaster.
“Being able to use an electric scooter from there allow me to access the high street and everything in it, like the doctor, supermarket, pharmacy, fish shop, butcher and everything else it offers.
“It gives people independence – I can’t walk or access these things without that and if that service isn’t there, then 50-plus members will just be stuck at home and not able to get out and about to do things and see people they know.
“Life is hard enough and getting out is important for mental health; I was shocked when I found out the hub was closing and we’re going to make some noise about it because the town centre isn’t just for people who can walk.”
Mum Margaret, 75, added: “I can’t manage without the scooter, and there are amputees and people with other disabilities using the service – we need it get around the town centre and to have our independence.
“Without it I’d need to take a taxi to Glasgow Fort and use the equipment there; the next nearest shopping centres we could use would be East Kilbride or Silverburn, which is ridiculous and means I can’t just go for a coffee with my laddie.
“I’m not surprised the charity is struggling after Covid, but I’m absolutely shocked that the council won’t take this on; I’d even settle for a reduced service and the subscription going up, but they need to take responsibility for the disabled people of Coatbridge as otherwise people are going to be condemned to spend all day at home.”
Holytown resident John immediately set up a Facebook group aiming to save the Coatbridge hub, which gained 60 members in just four days, and is arranging a protest outside the Exchange Place facility at 2pm on Thursday to highlight their calls for North Lanarkshire Council to step in.
Group members have posted about the importance of the service, while John has written to local authority leader Jim Logue and equalities minister Christina McKelvie about the “hardship” of its loss, and has gained the support of Fulton MacGregor, the Coatbridge MSP – who says its loss would be “a very poor indictment of how disabled people are treated in our society”.
John said: “I think the council is duty-bound to get disabled people access to the town centre, just like everybody else – it’s not a huge amount of money in the scheme of things and it’s saving money off the back of disabled people, whereas mobility is priceless.”
A statement from the Health and Wellness Hub described the two mobility services as “no longer financially viable” and saying that the “unsustainable” monthly losses are “impacting on the charity’s other services”.
Service manager Kelly Stewart told Lanarkshire Live: “This was a very difficult decision as we know the benefits the service brings to our members and local communities, but we have explored every possible option to continue the service and it is simply not viable.”
A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said the authority “helped the charity to try and source alternative funding to allow the shopmobility service to continue, and we are disappointed it is closing.
“The service was previously run by Town Centre Activities, an arms-length organisation managed by the council; with significant budget savings to be made for the year ahead, the council is not in a position to provide funding.”
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