Council Help for Clitheroe Lollipop Lady Forced to Sleep in her Dining Room for Over a Decade
A Clitheroe lollipop lady forced to sleep in her dining room for over a decade has received a new lease of life thanks to Ribble Valley Borough Council.
Due to a progressive disability Amanada Townsend cannot use the stairs in her Siddows Avenue home and has had to sleep in her dining room for 12 years.
Her property was unsuitable for a stair lift, but thanks to the installation of a through-the-floor lift Amanda is now able to sleep in her bedroom, as well as use a newly-converted wet room.
Amanda’s home was adapted using a disabled facilities grant from Ribble Valley Borough Council.
The grants enable older and vulnerable residents to live more independently in their homes.
They include a mix of means-tested disabled facilities grants (non-means-tested if the facilities are for children) of up to £55,000 and non-means-tested discretionary grants, called Ribble Valley Adaptations, of up to £10,000 for such as accessible showers and stairlifts.
Amanda described the changes to her home as ‘amazing’ and the impact of the adaptions on her life as ‘phenomenal’.
She said: “After thinking I would have to leave my family home, the council has transformed it into a home for the rest of my life.
“The ramp at the front door makes it so much easier for me to get in and out of the house and the lift has enabled me to use my bedroom for the first time in 12 years.
“The lift has a chair and two grab handles to help me in and out, and the chair can be removed later on, if and when I become a wheelchair-user.
“It has lights, an automatic closing door, remote control and is the most amazing thing I have ever come across.
“And the change from a shower over a bath to a wet room has given me the freedom to shower without the need for assistance.
“My disability is progressive and admitting I needed help was the hardest thing I have ever done, but I am so glad I did, because I raised my children in this house and having to leave would have been heartbreaking.
“Thanks to these adaptations I can now stay and I want to thank Ribble Valley Borough Council, its housing team and contractors, from the bottom of my heart.”
Amanda is well-known to people in the Woone Lane area of Clitheroe as the lollipop lady at St James’s CE Primary School.
She is currently able to walk on the flat and is determined to work as long as possible, but as her disability progresses she is even finding stepping up kerbs difficult.
Mark Hindle, chairman of Ribble Valley Borough Council’s health and housing committee, added: “We offer a range of grants to help people like Amanda stay in their own homes.
“And our discretionary grants have enabled us to double the number of households we are able to help, particularly those in need of adaptations, whose need is pressing, but who do not qualify for means-tested assistance.
“I would encourage anyone who needs assistance to contact our friendly housing team and we will do our best to help.”
Home adaptations have to be recommended by an occupational therapist and the work is funded and overseen by the council’s surveying team, ensuring it is undertaken to the highest standard.
For further information about disabled facilities grants or adaptations to your home, visit ribblevalley.gov.uk, or phone Lancashire Social Services on 0300 123 6720 and request an occupational therapy assessment.