Dudley residents receive

The Disabled Facilities Grant has donated £2 million to Dudley Council’s Dudley Home Improvement Service and is set to use the money to provide much-needed stair lifts, level access walk in showers and other mobility aids to help vulnerable residents live more independently. The funds will be made available to older people in Halesowen and Cradley.

The grant is said to be the fifth largest pay-out of its kind, with only Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool securing more. The local council has said that the grant will help older people live as independently as possible through the installation of home stair lifts so that those in multiple-storey houses in the area can continue living in their own home – something that is clearly of importance to both residents and the council.

‘Older people want to live independently’

Councillor Steve Waltho, who is the Cabinet Member for Housing, was thrilled with the grant, stating: “Many older people want to live independently in their own home for as long as possible and therefore the suitability, condition and adaptation of the home is really important”. The grant will be going towards the provision of level access walk in bats and showers, ramps, the creation of wider doorways and home stair lifts, according to this article, and will provide much needed assistance to elderly residents.

Having received one of the highest grants in the country, Dudley Council are thrilled at the prospect of being able to help support their older residents and adapt their homes to meet the individual needs of people who might otherwise have had to resort to moving into a nursing home against their will - an outcome that companies such as Handicare work towards ensuring is a final resort.

Image Credit: Kat Sniffen (flickr.com)