A new scooter store is making life easier for the residents of an Isos sheltered housing scheme in Haltwhistle, Northumberland.
Residents of the Tynedale Grange sheltered flats and bungalows were having problems finding an appropriate place to store their motorised scooters.
The building was designed long before scooters were as commonplace as they are today.
Storing the scooters in corridors or in the residents’ lounge was not practical, as they got in everybody’s way, and plugging in the scooter batteries to recharge was not recommended, as the existing power supply was not the right voltage.
So the residents applied to the Isos Tenants Option Budget (TOB) for a £9,000 grant to fund a dedicated scooter store in their building.
The TOB panel normally only consider grant applications up to £5,000 but does have the power to make exceptional awards if they consider the scheme merits the investment. They decided that the Tynedale Grange scheme did qualify.
Fortunately the Tynedale Grange building boasted a very large residents’ lounge, so a section of this room was partitioned off to form a separate store room, including hardwearing flooring and high voltage power sockets appropriate for charging up scooter batteries.
The residents have also benefited from the external door to this room being automated, so they can enter and leave the building using a key fob, without having to use a conventional key and negotiate heavy doors.
Elsie Dempster, 79, lives in one of the Tynedale Court bungalows, next to Tynedale Grange.
She said: “Before, I had to store my scooter in the hallway of my bungalow. Every time I took it out, it took a bit more plaster off the wall.
“The new scooter store is very good for us. It’s made everybody happier.”
Frank Peel, scheme officer for Tynedale Grange, said: “We currently have three scooter users, and this has been a godsend for them.
“It also means other residents now have the option to acquire a scooter, knowing there is a safe, secure place to store them. It just makes life easier for everybody.”
Tynedale Grange is a complex with 18 flats, with 10 bungalows nearby.
Sara Parker Clark, team leader in the Isos Community Involvement Team, is responsible for managing grants from the Tenants Option Budget. She said: “This was an unusual application, asking for a larger amount of funding than we normally provide.
“However the residents who sit on our Grants Panel were content that the benefit to the residents at Tynedale Grange was worth the investment, and everybody is now delighted with the outcome.”
This year, the Isos Tenants Option Budget has paid out close to £50,000 to fund a total of 23 funding applications across the North East.