THOUSANDS IN NI HELPED BY MOTOR SCHEME FOR DISABLED
THE MOTABILITY scheme has helped tens of thousands of people in Northern Ireland since its inception – more than 35,000 actually.
The programme offers people with disabilities across the Province the opportunity and financial support to own or lease a car. It is the UK’S largest motor scheme for disabled people.
More and more car brands are being added, with all the large brands like Ford, Vauxhall (and many others represented.
And it’s not just cars – Motability also allows disabled people to finance powered wheelchairs and scooters, both of which can be life-savers for those living with challenging conditions.
Motability also supports those caring for a disabled child aged three or over. And it also allows those who do not drive to apply for a car as a passenger and nominate two other people as their drivers.
This can be invaluable for shopping, appointments, leisure trips and much more.
Adapting vehicles to be able to accommodate the particular needs of disabled people can be extremely complicated and difficult.
But Motability’s database of around 400 adaptations is a brilliant help – and many popular adaptations come at no extra cost.
A single simple monthly payment covers insurance, road tax, breakdown cover, servicing, tyre and windscreen replacement.
And don’t worry about the seemingly complex process of choosing and selecting a vehicle: a simple online car search tool at www.motability. co.uk makes it easy to find and create a shortlist of cars.
Cars are supplied through a network of local Motability Dealer Partners and many of the vehicles are available simply by customers transferring their allowance to Motability for the period of the agreement.
For most Motability customers, a standard production car is suitable, but as part of the contract hire package around 400 adaptations are available, with many popular adaptations offered at no additional cost, such as push-pull hand controls and left-foot accelerators.
The most popular option for Motability customers is the contract hire of a new car, which offers worry-free motoring at affordable prices.
Customers can choose a new car from a selection of over 2,000 models, from the major manufacturers, on a three or five-year lease.
The choice of vehicles available includes over 500 automatic models, more than 1,000 eco-friendly choices, including 100% electric vehicles available to lease - and around 450 cars available with no
Advance Payment.
A simple online Car Search tool at www.motability.co.uk makes it easy to find and create a shortlist of cars that suit individual lifestyle.
Anyone receiving either higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, enhanced rate mobility component of Personal Independence Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment or War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement can apply.
VEHICLE CONVERSION
Did you know Motability also covers the cost of converting and adapting vehicles so they can properly accommodate people with mobility challenges?
For example, you may decide that a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) is what you need.
Motability will advise on how you can get in and out of the vehicle, the conversion features you will require, and even describe the experience of travelling in WAVS.
Special features on the Motability website will let you explore these features in more detail.
In Northern Ireland, there are several specialist manufacturers who can convert vehicles for Motability users, including installing ramps.
Leaving the Belfast school of Art in 2010 a swathe of us set out on our artistic journeys together. All focusing on different disciplines (photography, design, sculpture, painting) and eventually taking different directions but their drive and ambition is fantastic to see.
It’s a wonderful support network and their words to the wise are always welcome!
Q
Your top three dinner party guests, dead or alive, and why?
A
I’m a big fan of the director Ridley Scott so I would like to hear his anecdotes from some of all those amazing film sets.
Next would be Caravaggio, probably one of the greatest painters in history and who was known for his antics.
Finally I’d pick painter Jenny Saville.
Her outlook on art and the painting process is fascinating and I would be taking notes.
Q
The best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
A
My grandmother always said if you try your best, nobody can ask any more of you.
Q
The unlikely interest or hobby that you love?
A
I’m slightly addicted to Scrabble and take it far too seriously.
Q
The poem that touches your heart?
A
Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by WB Yeats. It’s the final lines that are just perfect and they get me everytime: “…But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
Q
The happiest moment of your life?
A
When my fiancée Jan said yes. It was a real cloak and dagger fiasco leading up to it and I’m a useless liar so not spoiling anything was a real challenge. Jan brings out the best in me and I’m extremely lucky.
Qand
Athe saddest?
Losing my cousin Aidan to suicide. Suddenly losing a loved one is a real shock to the system.
When a person is ill or elderly it’s still traumatic but there is a level of acceptance through the grieving process but when it comes out of the blue it leaves a void that never really heals.
Q
The one event that made a difference in your life?
A
This is so tough as it isn’t really an event but finally walking through the galleries in Paris for the first time. You always see images in books or magazines of these spaces but to walk through spaces like the Louvre, the Pompidou and the Musée d’orsay was overwhelming.
Q
What’s the ambition that keeps driving you forward?
A
At a Culture Night event in Belfast in 2014, a woman approached me after looking at my painting “The Lady Vanishes”.
She told me how she saw the work and was moved by it. It was not what was in my mind when I painted it but I realised it didn’t matter.
The viewer can bring their own story to a work and that’s what can make them so compelling.
Leaving that ambiguous element in means that the viewer can connect to the work on a personal level much easier than when a narrative is laid out before them.
Making work that has that potential for connection is what drives me forward.
Q
What’s the philosophy that you live by?
A
You don’t stop learning after school/uni and I try to stay curious and open minded. Daily lists are good to keep productive and stay on top of juggling projects/ideas.
Q
How do you want to be remembered?
A
Over the past year living with Covid-19 I suppose this question has popped into my head from time to time.
Ultimately, I’d like to be remembered as a devoted artist/ brother/uncle/son/friend/ husband-to-be who was kind and compassionate and tried to make a difference in a small way.
The arts community is really struggling at the moment so I am so happy to be included in the new online series supporting wellbeing in the arts sector Surviving or Thriving? series from Waterford Healing Arts Trust in partnership with the Arts Council.
I’m excited to see where the discussions lead.
Surviving or Thriving? is an Arts Council initiative in partnership with Waterford Healing Arts Trust. The online programme will take place until April 2. To book your free place please visit www. artscouncil.ie and www.waterfordhealingarts.com. The purpose is to support the wellbeing of anyone working in the arts (not just artists) in any art form (theatre, music, visual art, dance, literature etc)
‘Jan brings out the best in me, I’m solucky’