Shopmobility service loss 'like a punch in the face'

The loss of a Shopmobility accessibility service in Surrey "feels like a punch in the face" after trying to keep it running, a disability campaigner has said.

Guildford's Shopmobility service will close on Friday, with operators Age UK Surrey citing "significant financial challenges" and no increase in council funding.

A petition calling on Age UK Surrey and the council to continue to operate the service, which has run for more than 30 years, has amassed 1,500 signatures.

Shirlee Posner, a trustee of the Surrey Coalition of Disabled People who uses the service, said: "It allows me to access the town centre. I feel normal with it."

Posner added: "When you are disabled, a lot of doors start getting shut in your face and your world starts shrinking. With the scheme, I can do whatever I want, and I don't want that taken away from me.

"Losing it feels like a punch in the face."

Shopmobility schemes allow wheelchair users and those with accessibility needs to loan out mobility equipment to help them move around town centres and shopping precincts.

Age UK announced in May that the decision to close the service, based in Bedford Car Park, was "extremely difficult and not taken lightly", but that it was "no longer able to sustain a service that is operating at a deficit".

It added that it was "optimistic" that the service could continue to be run by other organisations in the future.

Graham House called the service a "godsend" for him and his wife Ruth, who set up the petition.

"It means I won't be going into Guildford again if I can't get a scooter to use," House said.

His wife added: "We are going to keep working on the petition. The borough council are very supportive of us."

A Guildford Borough Council spokesperson said the decision to close the service was "understandably upsetting for the people who use it".

They added and that the council had ringfenced money to go towards a new scheme should a charity wish to revive it.

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