People living in High Wycombe will be able to get around and get free home care information more easily, now that Walfinch home care has sponsored the local Shopmobility charity.

Greg Renk, Managing Director of Walfinch home care in Mid and South Buckinghamshire, says: “Shopmobility provides electric mobility scooters and powered and manual wheelchairs for hire, from its shop in the Eden Shopping Centre, High Wycombe. People can use them for shopping and to get around town, including visiting the nearby Wycombe Hospital, the library, or the opticians.

“Our sponsorship will help keep this valuable service going. We know these vehicles will be useful for our home care clients – it's likely that some already use them – but as sponsors our logos will be on the vehicles, so that everyone will know who we are and how to reach us. It's great that we can support Shopmobility's community services.”

David Fismister, Grants and Funding Manager at Shopmobility High Wycombe says: “This is a valuable joint initiative as both we and Walfinch are aiming to make life easier for people with limited mobility.

“The service helps maintain independence, as people can come into town and hire a vehicle to take them to appointments, or for shopping and social life, without having to buy one. We also hire manual wheelchairs for people who want to use those themselves, or they can be pushed by carers or loved ones.”

The vehicles can also be hired for longer periods so people can go away for weekends.

“They are easy to operate – we can teach people how to use them in just a few minutes – and they have a top speed of four miles an hour, so they are safe around pedestrians,” says David.

The Shopmobility shop will stock Walfinch leaflets, display its posters, put information and the Walfinch logo on their website and digital media, and add the Walfinch logo to the livery of the vehicles. Posters and leaflets about Walfinch will be displayed at Shopmobility's local events, such as quiz nights, that Shopmobility puts on, and Walfinch can have a table at Shopmobility displays in the shopping centre.

“It's mobile marketing for our services, which will make it easier for people to find out about what we can do to improve their lives. ” says Greg.

The scooters and wheelchairs are available to anyone who considers themselves to have mobility issues, whether through disability, illness or injury, for a £10 annual membership fee and then daily charges of £3 for electric vehicles and £2 for manual wheelchairs.

David adds: “We welcome new sponsors such as Walfinch, because we have no council funding and funding from the Eden Centre is being reduced, so Greg's sponsorship helps us both maintain a service to our community.”