Thursday, December 15, 2005

Stair Lift firm in trouble

A Cheshire based stair lift firm has gone into administration, putting scores of jobs at risk. Churchill Stairlifts, based in Runcorn, has 60 employees and an annual turnover of £8 Million.

The company, which was founded 10 years ago, suffered losses of £500,000 last year and has traded in the red for some time. A Manchester based firm has been appointed as adminstrator and it is likely that they will continue to trade in the short term with a view to trying to find a buyer.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Stair Lift use and carrying children

I found this informative forum relating to stair lifts on the Disability, Pregnancy & Parenthood International website.

http://www.dppi.org.uk/forum/index.php?action=listposts&threadid=2

The forum topic concerns the effects of having a stair lift when there are children in the house.

Friday, December 02, 2005

Stannah launch Sofia and Solus stairlift chairs

Stannah launched the Sofia and Solus stair lift chairs at the Independent Living Exhibition at Alexander Palace on the 21st of September.

The Sofia stair lift chair will be primarily sold into the Local Authority / Trade markets and will be made available to the Trade in Quarter 1 2006 to coincide with the availability of the powered swivel option.





More details soon...

Stairlifts by Sarah Hobson OT

I found this excellent article on the Independent Living NSW website

Question: I am having trouble getting up and down the stairs in my house due to mobility difficulties and pain in my knees. I think I need a stairlift, what do I do?

Answer: Staircases are all very different – the first stage I would advise anyone is to have is an assessment with an Occupational Therapist and they will be able to advise you re funding and the types of stairlifts that are appropriate for your situation.

There are straight and curved staircases for internal and external flights of stairs/steps. There are lifts that are specially designed to go externally and are specifically durable for outdoor conditions. It may also be a fact that the stairs cannot accommodate a stairlift so in this case a through floor lift would need to be considered.

For internal stairs if it is a straight flight then depending on staircase width and access at the top and bottom of stairs a track runs along the side of the stairs with either a chair or a standing platform. I would suggest if you are having difficulties climbing the stairs then you would perhaps need a chair version stairlift.

If your stairs has a curve or mid way platform, then the stairlift you will need will have to be custom made to the shape and layout of the stairs. In any case you will need to get suppliers out to assess the situation.

There are many different suppliers of stairlift so it is worth shopping around as there are differences in make and models.