Stannah Stairlifts Raises £1000 for Charity

Celebrity Lionel Blair, Mayor Brian Page and 94 year old world-record-breaking abseiler Doris Long teamed up with Stannah Stairlifts on the 24 June to host a climbing event at its head office in Andover to support Help the Aged’s National Falls Awareness Day (NFAD) raising £1,000.

Stannah Stairlifts, the sponsors of NFAD, has been supporting the Charity's campaign to improve problem paving and identify trouble spots that may cause injury to older people, who are more likely to lose their footing and fall over. As well as supporting the overall campaign, Stannah erected the eight metre high climbing wall which was scaled by Lionel, Doris, Mayor Brian Page and Stannah Stairlift employees.

Each member of staff who scaled the wall made a contribution for every climb and raised almost £500 – which was then generously doubled by Stannah Stairlifts. 

Doris, being such an expert, showed the Stannah employees how to do it like a professional. She became an abseiling record breaker in 2006 by abseiling a massive 220ft down Millgate House in Portsmouth, becoming the oldest person ever to abseil at the age of 92! Since then she has kept up her hobby, most recently scaling the Portsmouth City Council Offices for charity.

Research commissioned by Help The Aged shows nearly three million older people think that paving in their area is sub-standard1, supported by a further survey that shows 2.5 million people have fallen on poor or broken paving2. It’s with this in mind that Stannah Stairlifts enthusiastically supports National Falls Awareness Day 2008; as Stannah, like Help the Aged, firmly believes that people should be given the opportunity to live independently for as long as possible, with the best support available to them.

 To find out more about how you can protect yourself from falls or help others to stay safe contact Help The Aged on 0207239 1845 or visit www.helptheaged.org.uk/fallsday

1 Source: Spotlight survey by ICM for Help the Aged, Jan 2008

2 Source: Spotlight survey by ICM for Help the Aged, Feb 2007