CHuC Newsletter April 2016
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CHuC Newsletter - April 2016
Welcome to our long overdue newsletter. Firstly we have an updated and more accessible website which was launched today. There may be a few teething troubles but hopefully if there are they will be short-lived. At the top of each page is an 'accessibility' symbol which if clicked on gives you lots of options on how YOU want the page to be displayed. Please feel free to experiment and send us any feedback. All the out of date information and links have all been removed and the menu structure has been changed so that you can select an area rather than having to search through the whole accommodation listing to find what you are looking for.
A by-product of the website redesign is that we are now more mobile friendly too.
Now the bad news. The International Hotel in Telford no longer has a hoist in one of their accessible rooms. They told CHuC the decision to remove it was because it wasn't getting used! Probably not the most popular destination in the country but it was certainly ideal for visiting Ironbridge and the area around there. A great pity, but the hoists cost money for the hotels to maintain and test. Use it or lose it!
Now for the better news. We have had 3 brand new self-catering properties with ceiling hoists listed in the last few weeks. All of them are in Scotland!
Clober Farm is a recently refurbished property that sleeps 5-6 with level access throughout. It is close to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and an ideal spot for visiting Glasgow and the surrounding area.
The Rings is a purpose built property set in 90 acres of peaceful Fife farmland near Cupar in Fife. Ideally situated for visiting St Andrews (on our list of "where I want to stay" places) or Dundee which is just 35 minutes away. The Rings can accommodate up to 16 guests and has moveable walls so that it can be split into smaller units making it very flexible.
The Moat House is a refurbished 200 year old property in Annan which sleeps up to 12 in five very large bedrooms with four of them wheelchair accessible. It has a platform lift connecting the 2 floors. Two bedrooms have X-Y ceiling hoists and one has a profiling double bed and the other two profiling single beds. One of the wet rooms also has an X-Y ceiling hoist and has an adult size changing / shower bed.
Details and contact information for all three of the properties above can be found on out Self-Catering - Scotland page
More good news. The first of the purpose designed Flat Spaces holiday bungalows is now open in Ropely, Hampshire. Their aim is to have one in every county which is a huge target to aim for but with help and sponsorship there is no way why they can't achieve this.
Your Help. Do you know of anywhere offering accommodation with a ceiling track hoist that isn't listed on CHuC? We are particularly looking for places in Europe and further afield but we need more accommodation in UK too, especially hotels. The most frequent reply we get when trying to persuade a hotel to install a hoist is that 'nobody has ever asked for one'. If you are booking a hotel and you know they don't have a hoist please still ask for one. Eventually we will wear them down!
There is also a very worthwhile campaign on change.org started by Chris Tomson of Stoke-on-Trent asking several hotel chains to install more hoists in there hotels. You can find the item here https://www.change.org/p/premier-holiday-inn-premier-inn-travelodge-install-tracker-hoists-in-accessible-rooms CHuC has been contacted by Channel 4 News about this who may do a feature on it if there is sufficient interest. Please add your name to this worthwhile campaign.
Whilst looking through change.org I noticed several other hoist related campaigns both in UK and overseas which you may find interesting and worthy of support. Just search for 'hoist' on their website.
We have replaced our old 'classified ads' section on the website and you can now sell, give away or request any ceiling hoist or disability related equipment free of charge. You can enter all the information about the item and upload photos without any admin intervention although all adverts will be vetted for suitability before they are visible on the website. At the moment there is no need to login in to submit an ad but if it becomes overloaded with spam we may have to change that. Adverts will be displayed for 60 days.
As much as I personally dislike Google Ads and similar they will be appearing on the website shortly. CHuC costs money to run and maintain and hopefully the adverts will generate some income to go towards the ongoing costs
On a personal note, I have now moved to the USA but will continue to campaign in the late Sue Maynard Campbell's name for more accommodation with ceiling hoists. If you wish to contact CHuC then e-mail is always the quickest and easiest. For those that want to speak direct I will keep an IP phone with a UK number available but please remember I am 5 hours behind UK so call between 2pm and 10pm UK time. You can also snail mail us but it will now cost an international stamp...
Steve Catlin
CHuC Administrator
