A MINIGAFF resident suffering with mobility problems has been given a new lease of life after being gifted a set of wheels by her landlord.
Until recently, Penny Prentice’s manual wheelchair was making it difficult for her to easily enter and exit her home, a property owned by Loreburn Housing Association.
And an occupational therapy assessment ruled that she did not meet the requirements for a motorised chair.
“I was told I could propel myself in the home, so I didn’t qualify. But trying to do this from outside to get back in was really difficult,” Penny said.
She then approached the housing association, who subsequently agreed to sort her out with a scooter in the hope it would alleviate her difficulties.
Roger Baillie, maintenance supervisor for Loreburn, said: “There wasn’t much we could do to the access route into Penny’s home that would have helped but we could see this was severely affecting Penny’s ability to get out and about. We wanted to support her to remain independent and so she would not have to consider anything more drastic such as moving home. It’s not one of our usual solutions but we’re always open to being creative.”
Penny remarked that the chair has “transformed my life”.
“I can’t thank Loreburn enough,” she said. “Paul, my neighbourhood officer has been knocking every week to check I’m okay, but I think he might not find me at home quite so much now!”
Commenting, Lorraine Usher, chief executive of Loreburn, said: “I’m delighted for Penny and to see our teams personalising services to meet customers’ individual needs and sustain tenancies. One of our key values is to create an exceptional customer experience and this a great example of how our teams can do just that.”
