moveman Helps Serve Accrington Community

Disabled residents of Accrington in the North West can make full use of their new community centre, thanks to platform lift supplier, moveman . Hyndburn Voluntary and Community Resource Centre, which officially opened on 15th September 2004, had a Companion Prestige Lift installed to enable wheelchair users to access the second floor.

Until fifteen years ago the building was a school, before being used as a church hall. Now primarily a venue for voluntary sector agencies, and to hold community meetings, the centre is currently applying for charitable status.

The lift, with automatic doors for ease of use, is situated in the lobby area on the ground floor, and takes wheelchair users to the floor above. With a through entry and A3 glass doors for visibility, it has significantly improved access to the building. The lift is also fitted with an alarm button that can be operated from a wheelchair, and a telephone handset so that assistance can be called for if required.

Geoff Coglan, Chair of Trustees for the centre, said, "With one wheelchair user on site and the possibility of other disabled people using the centre, we felt it was time to invest in a lift. To avoid making massive changes to the interior of the building, a platform lift was considered to be the best option. moveman was specified as the supplier, and now our centre is well equipped to serve the local community whilst being up to date with current DDA regulations."

moveman is the first supplier of platform lifts to have obtained Type Approval for its Prestige lift. A method of registering designs that comply with building regulations, Type Approval is obtained through the Local Authority National Type Approval Confederation (LANTAC), and allows customers the peace of mind that the lift being installed in their building is Part M accredited. For more information about moveman and its full range of products visit www.moveman .co.uk