How a Hearing Dog called Bella helped ex police officer Geraldine Winhall from Norfolk get her life back on track

Kids love books, we love books and the CustomEyes teams at Guide Dogs is dedicated to ensuring that no vision impaired child is left behind when it comes to reading, whether for school or for pleasure.

Entrance door manufacturers Vista Panels Ltd recently teamed up with German lock experts Winkhaus to help a wheelchair user open his door from anywhere in his property via his smart phone.

Paul Allen had previously found it difficult to let in visitors without having to manoeuvre his wheelchair to the intercom system in his hallway. Paul wanted to use some of todays smart technology to find an alternative solution.

Alarming shortcomings in the physical accessibility of Manchester city centre have been exposed in a new, short documentary that follows a wheelchair user around the city for a day.

The video, commissioned by serious injury solicitors’ firm Potter Rees Dolan, follows Sara,an electronic wheelchair user with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). The condition affects the body’s connective tissue and causes her joints to dislocate from simple actions such as picking up her handbag. 

Inova Disability Sports Foundation (IDSF), who support disabled athletes around the world, has chosen to install Koller’s unique products to its ‘seated throw chairs’ used in sports like javelin and discus, bringing the frames up to the standards required by the International Paralympic Committee.

Koller, specialists in the design and manufacture of wheelchair accessible vehicle products, was chosen as the preferred supplier by IDSF head coach, Malcolm Wallace. “When IDSF took the decision to launch a new seated throwing chair I was given the responsibility due in part to my experience as a Paralympic coach and a field official of many years standing.

CECOPS Code of Practice for Disability Equipment, Wheelchair and Seating Services is a quality standard created for in-house and contracted-out Wheelchair industry, where existing standards fall short in many key areas.

AJM Healthcare is the first company to attain CECOPS accreditation for its North West London Wheelchair Service covering a population of two million. CECOPS certificates were issued to AJM for each of the six NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) that make up the service.

Gaining CECOPS Accreditation also evidences our compliance with the aims of the Wheelchair Charter that CCGs are expected to work to.

Electricity firm, UK Power Networks, is urging people with breathing difficulties to sign up to a confidential register to receive free support during power cuts.

During Breathe Easy Week (June 12-16) the company is raising awareness of the additional help available to customers with breathing conditions when they join the Priority Services Register, which offers help to vulnerable customers during power cuts.

This year's World Continence Week is June 19-25. The theme, Incontinence: No laughing matter, tackles a common response by people to laugh off incontinence, accepting it as an inevitable part of childbirth or ageing, not a health issue requiring specialist treatment. 

With a staggering 14 million people a year in the UK suffering from bladder and bowel conditions, spread the word, reduce the stigma, know that you are not alone and know that there are things you can do to improve the condition.

Bladder and bowel control problems can be treated, better managed and even cured.

According to Action On Hearing Loss, there are over 900,000 people living in the UK who are severely or profoundly deaf, and for many isolation is just a normal part of everyday life. Raising awareness about the deaf community and culture has never been a more pressing issue. Medical reports predict that the number of people suffering from hearing loss will grow to 15.6 million by 2035; a figure that will no doubt continue to rise as the damaging effects of noise pollution from today’s digital devices begin to materialise. So, how do we prepare for the future and work towards creating a more inclusive society for the hard of hearing?

Mencap is the leading voice of learning disability. Everything they do is about valuing and supporting people with a learning disability, and their families and carers.

Their vision is a world where people with a learning disability are valued equally, listened to and included.

At Argos for Business we are always looking to assist charities in providing essential items for those in need, and our latest project has seen us join forces with Mencap to do exactly this.

Mencap wants to contribute to improving the quality of life for people with a learning disability, and to help them achieve this we have begun supplying the necessary products to help the people (and their families) who need them.

National charity Limbcare, which supports amputees across the UK, is celebrating seven years of helping amputees, the limb impaired and their families to cope with their life changing circumstances. During its lifetime, Limbcare has raised over £400,000 and dealt with enquiries as far afield as America, Africa and Australia. It has helped well over 1,000 people deal with their changing circumstances. Limbcare provides support with everything from personal issues to how to access benefits, home adaptation advice, mobility advice and gives emotional support to those going through this life changing experience. But despite everything that has been achieved, there is still so much more to do.

A Hampshire equestrian centre has become the latest riding establishment to sign up to a national scheme to encourage more disabled people to take up riding.

Russells Equestrian Centre based in Eastleigh is honoured to have met the criteria set out by Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA), to gain their Accessibility Mark accreditation.

Riding for the Disabled Association, in partnership with the British Equestrian Federation’s participation programme, launched the revolutionary Accessibility Mark scheme with the aim of getting more disabled people to participate in riding.

A visually impaired man has found himself the victim of discrimination when he asked his local authority if he could vote at the General Election on June 8th in the same way that everyone else can. 

When Daniel Williams, 25, enquired at Cardiff City Council, if he could have a large print ballot paper, he was informed that this was not possible due to ‘legislative reasons’. No alternative was suggested.  

Mr Williams was then told by the Electoral Commission that there would be ‘an example’ in a large print format at the polling station ‘for reference only’. He would still have to place his cross on an original size ballot paper.  

North West charity the Together Trust has joined the Disabled Children’s Partnership to work with like minded organisations to improve health and social care services.

The Disabled Children’s Partnership is a group of disability and children’s charities, which was formed in 2015 and is the successor of the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign (EDCM).

This year the partnership will be working with young people and their families to start a new public facing campaign in England.

Children and young people across England are facing a critical time in terms of the support services they receive as the general election approaches and a new government is elected with a new manifesto.

A Cumbria riding centre has been awarded a £2000 grant to help more disabled people to enjoy the benefits of riding and spending time with horses.

Happy Hooves Riding Centre based in Penrith, applied for the funding through the Cumbria Community Foundation, who put them in touch with the Edmond Castle Educational Trust. 

The Trust helps support local people and organisations who seek to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged members of their local community.

The centre regularly runs a six week course attended by clients put forward by the Cumbria Health and Care Services, mainly disadvantaged adults and children with learning difficulties.