Go! St Austell Shop Mobility celebrated its one year anniversary with coffee and cake in their office in the White River Place car park.
The scheme provides essential support to the town’s residents and visitors who have mobility issues, loaning powered scooters and manual wheelchairs to people who visit St Austell.
Cornwall College St Austell Skills for Life students Daniel Vincent and Matthew Freeman were on hand to give out cakes and talk to customers and visitors. Matthew commented: “I’m here every Thursday and really enjoy meeting people and helping out.”
The Go! St Austell scheme is run and managed by Skills for Life students from Cornwall College St Austell in partnership with the scheme’s Management Committee.
Paul Scott, Chairman of St Austell District Chamber of Commerce was pleased with the positive uptake of the scheme in its first year and is looking to expand in the future, “It would be great to get another powered scooter so that there is always a back-up. We currently have forty members and five scooters and are expecting this to increase over the coming year as we become more established.”
Brian Smith from Volunteer Cornwall commented: “The Truro scheme also had a slow first year but their membership really picked up after that. They went from thirty members in their first year, to now having three hundred and sixty members in their third year. We are hoping for the same pattern here in St Austell.”
Helping those with disabilities is a cause close to Paul’s heart, “If we can help reduce the isolation many people with disabilities feel, then that makes our efforts worthwhile.” He is keen to find ways to further promote the scheme and will be looking into having Book Banks in local businesses where the public can use to easily donate items for the GO! St Austell store; the second hand book store is the main source of funding for the charity and they are always in need of donations of unwanted items such as books and DVDs. Paul is also looking for companies who would like to sponsor a scooter, which would be branded with the company’s logo and details.
Dave Linnell, Principal of Cornwall College, commented: “The scheme is vital for those with a mobility disability; we want everyone to be able to enjoy the town. It is a great experience for our students too, who are developing their skills in the workplace and contributing to the local community.”
To contact Paul Scott please call 01726 70706. GO! St Austell is open from Monday to Friday, 10am until 3pm.
Those who use the scheme can hire mobility equipment on an hourly basis, which costs £1.50 per hour for members and £3 per hour for non-members. Membership is £5 per year. Staff at the shop will show you how to use the equipment safely before you borrow it. Although people can just pop-in to hire the equipment, it is recommended to ring 01726 70706 in advance to guarantee availability
GO! St Austell can be found straight off the roundabout between South Street and Trinity Street or through the multi-storey car park in White River Place on Level 2.
