Mental Health Awareness Week this year focused on community and accessing the community. As a disability charity we know that it can be extremely important for people to be able to access their environments and maintain social connections, and for some this can be a difficult thing to do, especially for the first time.
Our Hubs Mobility Advice Service, based at QEF Mobility Services, supports people who are unable to drive to travel independently, so they can stay connected with friends, family and their community.
Amanda Beck, QEF’s Hubs Mobility Advice Service lead spoke to Julie, a service user, about the impact the Hub’s service has had on her life. You can watch her film or read a transcript below.
How did you find out about the Hubs Mobility Advice Service?
I was referred by Rachel, who is a prescribing nurse. She was helping me because the most important thing to me, is to get out of the house and she recommended QEF and through that I met Amanda and they were very helpful.
What was your situation before you found out about Hubs Mobility Advice Service?
Basically housebound, scared to go out, very worried about getting on any public transport, and also it’s very inaccessible round here to get to the cabs and things like that so I just didn’t really know what to do
How has the Service changed things for you?
Enormously really, they’ve given me lots of information about the sorts of mobility scooters, the taxi card, even coaches and how to get around. They’ve organised, if I need it, for one of the red route guys to take me to Sutton bus garage, to get on and off busses until I’m confident and loads of information that I wouldn’t have got elsewhere. It’s been invaluable, it’s the difference between, you know, being housebound and being able to get out and about, and it helps your mental health enormously. It’s been really good.
What would you say to someone about the Hubs Mobility Advice Service, why would you recommend it?
I’d recommend it because it gives you confidence and it gives you a clear way of getting out and about and what to do and how to do it. I was given a lot of information by them, which is invaluable to me and it has been invaluable. It’s really good.
Have you been able to have some good days out? Where have you been able to go?
Yeah, with the mobility scooter I’ve been able to get down to my local garden centre, to the shops, to be able to even post a letter, it gives you so much more freedom, it’s fantastic.
