Whitakers of Shipley
Disability
'Maybe a little bit of extra help from us, could make a big difference to you?'
Our small friendly team has worked together for many years. Although none of us has had any formal disability training, we know it's the little things in life which can make the greatest difference.
We're currently working with 'InCommunities Bradford'. We participate in an accommodation project which houses vulnerable people from different parts of the world. Often these people have problems with language and have issues regarding trust. It's no trouble to us to take a bit of extra time explaining things and liasing between the service users and the support team.
From time to time we work with our local NHS assisted living team who help people to look after themselves in their own homes. Many of these people have special needs. We're more than happy to talk to support workers and service users at the shop in order to make sure we know what the specific requirements are. We engage and involve whereever possible the service users and make certain that the decision process which they are part of is right for them.
Many of our elderly customers need a little bit of extra help when it comes to explaining how their new appliances function. It's no bother for us to revisit such customers and redemonstrate an appliance. We're also happy to spend time dealing with questions over the telephone.
We offer free house visits to discuss appliances with customers who have difficulty leaving the home. We now have a number of deaf customers who visit the shop. Regrettably no one at the shop can use 'sign-language', but we will invite deaf customers into our office to use our computer, so questions can be asked and answered using a word processer.
We don't claim that any of the above is cutting edge, but we will always try to help and if something is asked of us which is reasonable and will make a difference, then consider it done.
