Charities to help fund my Driving Adaptions ?

[dannos85]

Can anyone give me advise on what charities to approach to help toward the cost of vehicle adaptions.
I have had an invoice for the cost of the adaptions & have a covering letter ready to be sent to particular charities.
I have contacted my local citizens advice today, who unfortunately proved useless. There only advise was to get a car on motability, but thats no good to me now as i have already bought my Alfred Becker Chrysler Voyager Ramp Van.
Im planning to have a paravan joystick system, wheelchair docking system, etc.

If you know of a good charitable trust that can help my cause, Or a part of it. Your infomation will be much appreciated.

[Burgerman]

Not sure there are any. Motobility is useless, best bet buy it and look after it yourself - well...

Mines as new and is 5 years plus old. (2007 jan)

[dannos85]

As far as the general maintenance & up keep of the vehicle, that isn't a problem. But so far the work that needs to be carried out on my vehicle includes: fitting a modified push/pull to accomodate Space Drive, fitting Smart Steer, fitting a 4 way joystick, fitting Space Drive electric gear change, fitting a new steering column, steering wheel & air bag & numerous other smaller jobs.......thats where my problem lies. Obviously all the above work comes out at a ridiculous amount of money, which is why I was hoping to find some charities that may be prepared to help.

[Burgerman]

Well there may be some. But I dont know of them. Someone may be able to help.

[dannos85]

If anyone knows of any charitity that may have helped your self or a friend with any similar kind of case?
Please send me a private message if you are uncomfortable with public replys, Its probably best for everyone to be honest.
Thanks.

Motability is now not an option since i have already bought a vehicle privately, They only support you if you take their path in the begining,
But then again, we know how steep the deposit is for a (becker/braun/paravan) Grand Voyager Wheelchair Van on the motability scheme, More than the cost of a 4-way joystick.
I think if motability helped with adaptations towards disabled peoples (reliable) private vehicles, they would be spending alot less money every year.


If you have any info/leads, please PM me.

[Burgerman]

Motobility is just a vehicle leasing operation.

The real issue here is that once you get the disabled "stamp" and get DLA you get exactly the same amount of help with "getting around".

It amounts to about 200 a month. Doesent matter that you have no trouble walking, (walking wounded, fakers, or kidney transplant patients etc) so can just get any cheap non adapted car that you do not even require.

Or that you have serious mobility issues and need a 60k van with a 10k powerchair just to get about it doesent cover any of it, with an additional 6k of adapted controls to pay for. One size has to fit all apparently. And its wrong and its unfair,

and I have had a bee in my bonnet about this for some time. I can feel a govermental attack coming on!

[scoped]

I just wanted to add something that may or may not be relevant.

But when i applied to motability for an adapted drive from wheelchair vehicle, it was a nightmare.
Whoever i spoke to, had a different, conflicting point of view (from no problem it would likely be funded by them to doable with me paying for the cost of the controls and a downpayment too, running in to 10s of thousands) that we ended up having to write a letter to get a response in writing.

They said unless you're working or in full time education then all driving modifications would have to be privately funded. (which to me seems silly as i'm sure people would be more likely to work or be in education if they could drive there)
I would be hesitant to say that's an official position, as, like i said, there have been many different positions put forward.

there are often charities related to a specific disability, so depending what disability you have, there might be one for yours. These can often be a good resource for advice and help to find other charities

If you find out any more I would be interested to hear about it.

good luck!!

[dannos85]

They said unless you're working or in full time education then all driving modifications would have to be privately funded. (which to me seems silly as i'm sure people would be more likely to work or be in education if they could drive there)

Thats basicly all im hearing thought most sources.
I do some voluneer work but that does not cut it.
If I worked 16 hours of paid work per week then maybe 'access to work' would help.
Trouble with that is its cheaper for them to pay for taxis to work, than the cost of the cars 2-way space drive conversion.
I dont want to go on the motability scheme, because I really like my used Entervan as it has the width inside for 2 wheelchairs (me & partner are both in chairs) and Motability no longer offer the chrysler voyager entervan anymore & even when they did it would have been a £33.000 Down payment for the 5 years lease.
The similar KIA SEDONA van with side ramped access has also been discontinued. ( when we sat in one at Naidex a couple of years ago it was a bit of a squeeze for 2 chairs)
I dont fancy the french cars on offer & the deposit on a VW t5 is also out of my league & access into it would be a killer.
I will persue some charities for the time being & see what happens

[Burgerman]

>>>£33.000 Down payment for the 5 years lease

Which is why I got one from the US (canada actually) for 30k delivered to my door, brand new, and complete with electronic W/C tie down and hand controls fitted including delivery etc.

It still looks / smells brand new, and has just 10k miles and is 5 years old... And its mine for the next 10 plus years, paid for, no handing back. Or years worth of mobility payments.

Motobility sucks.

[Smark67]

Motability basically stopped me from driving. I was in the process of getting a replacement "drive from wheelchair" solution (as they call it) WAV, a Mercedes Vito, as I had had my Ford Transit for nearly 15 years and it was becoming clapped-out. I was halfway through the "fitting" stage (i.e. they had the vehicle and had began adapting it, and I had been up for several fittings) when they decided to pull the plug. Now I know this was for financial reasons, because the power steering on the new vehicle was heavier (apparently it was a one valve) and they didn't want to have to pay the extra for a 2 valve system. They told me it was because they didn't feel I was safe driving anymore, yet had this been the case why would they have started the project in 1st place? I appealed, I got lots of statements from people that had been passengers with me, and I even went to one of Motability's own assessment centres, surreptitiously of course, and got a glowing report regarding my driving. Yet they rejected my appeal (and the verdict of their own assessment centre) and said their decision was final! I couldn't afford the £50k or so needed for the vehicle and so they basically took away my independence.

Ironically when I contacted the company who were adapting my vehicle, about a year later (to see if there were any alternatives), the guy who had been in charge of making the funding decisions at Motability (and had therefore been involved in declining me) was now working for this company in as their sales manager! And he told me that there would definitely be a way of getting me driving again! Who to trust?

There is a lot of "greasing of palms" between Motability and these adaption companies because the companies know there is this massive cost of funding available and they like to schmooze the Motability representatives. I can remember when I was getting my 1st vehicle adapted. I used to go for a fitting and would have to sit for hours at a time in a cold draughty warehouse where the only refreshment being offered was that of a coffee machine. But on the odd occasion they had a Motability representative there, we would be shown into a warm office, pots of tea and coffee, and even a buffet!

[Burgerman]

Mmm...

Well I never got involved with motability once I did a few sums.
3 options: All in £

1. Import a LHD lowered floor minivan brand new, ready to rock, delivered to my door with tie down, hand controls, delivery and paperwork etc from USA or Canada for 30k or less. Pay once and its mine. Now 5 years old, and absolutely as new... It pays to look after your van. See these photos taken this week. http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images-startech-wheels/ Some are BIG!

2. buy a UK spec one for 57k (same vehicle/spec/tie down etc)

3. Use motobility lease scheme. Approx 30k down, 50 a week for 5 years (the mobility component of your DLA) which adds a further 13k, then hand it back after 5 years? At which point it will still look like new... And you start again.

It makes zero sense to use motobility. As usual, if you REALLY need help, and are actually disabled, and need a wheelchair accessible car to drive from the system lets you down. So you have to do things yourself.

[Burgerman]

If I keep it until it looks 3 times as tatty, then at this rate it will be 15 years olds. And still look brand new!

So. Do the math:

Thats 2k per year, even if after 15 years its scrapped. But it wont be, since I will still be looking after it just as well it will likely sell for half price... My last van sold after 12 years looking like new for 14.5k... If the same applies here then the 2k per year is reduced to 1k...

Motability is around 45k? every 5 years. then you give it back. No residual value, so some 9k per year. Motobility is only for the rich, or those that want to be poor or stay poor. Thats between 5 and 10 times as expensive!!!

The 57k UK van, works out at 4k per year if looked after the same as mine. So still unafordable by me but a way better bet than motability.

No 30k? Cant afford to buy outright? Well you cannot afford a van until you save some money. I have been working this way since I was a kid. It is exactly WHY I can afford vans, houses and to live well.