Kingkraft happy supporters of the Changing Places Campaign

Imagine you are out and about, doing a bit of shopping or having a family day out at the zoo and suddenly you are desperate for the toilet. How easy is it for you to find one that is accessible to use? Very. Well what if you are disabled? It becomes much more difficult as you need to manoeuvre a wheelchair or use changing facilities and many public toilets are just not up to the standard that is required. That is now shifting thanks to the Changing Places Consortium Campaign.

There are thousands of people in the UK that have profound and multiple learning disablities and require enough space and the correct facilities in order to enjoy a day out knowing that their needs are catered for. Changing Places facilities, which cater for around a quarter of the UK's population, are different to the standard disabled loos. They are equipped with a height adjustable, adult-sized changing bench with a tracking hoist, or mobile version if this is not possible, to help people out their wheelchair and onto the bench and vice versa. They also provide enough space for the disabled person and up to two carers which prevents them being changed on a dirty bathroom floor. A fully functioning disabled toilet with space either side for the carers with a curtain to provide privacy is also present. The facility is extremely clean and hygienic with paper towels wide enough to cover the whole of the changing table with large bins for the waste. There is also a non-slip floor to prevent any falls and skids that could occur and cause damage.

Although the amount of facilities are increasing there are still not enough available to cater for the people who really need them. We at Kingkraft Ltd are very happy to say that we are big supporters of the campaign and have helped install Changing Places facilities in many areas all around the UK. Some are detailed below:

• Chester Zoo - Jubilee toilets: changing table, hoist and wash basin
• Warrington Bus Interchange - Hoist
• Nottingham Potter Centre - Shower Changer
• Ilkeston Co-Op - Hoist and wash basin
• Leeds HEART - Hoist and mobile changing table
• Lancaster YMCA - Mobile changing table

There are many more centres which we have helped in providing Changing Places toilets and we look forward to helping out with many more in the future. The campaign is aiming to provide facilities in all public areas across the UK.

For more information on the campaign please visit their website at www.changing-places.org

Naidex South 2012

Naidex South 2012, a set on Flickr.

View our photos from the exhibition

Busy like a bee

Kingkraft was incredibly busy last week with not just one but FOUR exhibitions! I don't know how we managed it!

NAIDEX

Naidex South in London (17-18 October) was a fantastic event with lots of old and new faces. It was great to see those that visited last year and even better to see the fresh, first-year faces who we look forward to working with in the future.

Before we got busy.....

...And now the work begins

"Naidex South is one of the biggest shows of the year for us and once again it proved very successful. Over the two days we were exhibiting we spoke to a lot of new and existing customers and as always it's been a very cost effective route to market for us. The team at Naidex work very hard and it continues to be a great show for our industry."

Kate Earnshaw, Commercial Manager

We exhibited our always popular Multibath and Lifestyle tubs, with the Aquaclean 8000 toilet and variable height basin. The Boris shower toilet chair was a favourite amongst the people attending as well as the Guldmann Hoist we had set up on our stand. Both of the exhibiting days were successful and that might have had something to do with the London 2012 fever that struck the country this summer. The men and women from Team GB's wheelchair basketball opened the exhibition!

As always it's nice for us to wander around the stands and see acquaintances. By far our favourite has to be the Canine Partners stand. How adorable and cute are the dogs?!

AUTISM CENTRAL

We were also at The Autism Central Exhibition in Birmingham on 16th October. Again it was a great day seeing past and future customers. For all of you who didn't manage to make it to the event, we showed our specialist seating range including the Protac Sensit and Schuchmann Madita Fun. The ergonomic range is designed to help children grow and develop properly and provide support in a number of areas where it is needed most such as thoracic supports and head rests. The Sensit chair is designed to calm children with disabilities such as ADHD, autism and Torrette syndrome. It always proves popular with people attending exhibitions with it's bean-bag like comfort.


You might have also seen us at the HIA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Birmingham on 15th and 16th October and the PIP Stockport Disability Conference on the 17th. Now all that's left is for us to book a long holiday to recover!

Come to our breakfast seminar

In November, we are hosting an Active Seating breakfast seminar for healthcare professionals. We will be introducing our new postural and ergonomic seating range for those who are interested and along with this there will be a specialist speaker who will talk about the benefits for the growth and development of the body that active seating provides. There will be demonstrations on the products so you can get a feel and understanding of how they work and our Kingkraft professionals will be there to answer any questions you might have. And don't forget the most important part of a breakfast seminar, the bacon and sausage sandwiches! Places are limited and are filling fast, if you want to sign up please email info@kingkraft.co.uk or visit our Facebook page for more information.

Where to see us next?

We're going to be attending a number of exhibitions in the following few months bringing you our products and expertise on everything bathroom, seating and sensory.

First up is Naidex South at ExCeL in London on the 17th and 18th October. Entry is free to the southern version of  the UK's largest disability exhibition and you can catch us on stand H29. We will be bringing along our friendly sales reps to provide information to you on a number of our products. Here we will be exhibiting two of our many baths, the Multibath and Lifestyle, the Aquaclean 8000 toilet, the variable height Basin, tilt-in-space Shower Toilet Chair and a Guldmann Hoist. You will also be able to try our Protac sensory products; the Ball Blanket, Ball Cushion, Myfit Vest and Sensit chair and puff.

Next up is the Kidz Up North exhibition that is to be held at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. It is the biggest exhibition in the UK dedicated to children with disabilities and special needs and operates a number of events across the country. Entry is free on Thursday 29th November so make sure you come to visit us at stand 33. Here we will be exhibiting our bathroom products again and our new specialist seating range. We will be showing our ergonomic and postural seating products which include the Madita, Hooki Stool, Vela Tango, Vela Salsa and the Protac sensory Sensit chair and puff.

We will be sure to update you on the success of the events and hope to see you all there!

If you would like some information on our products before attending the exhibitions please visit our website at www.kingkraft.co.uk