The last few years have impacted people in different ways… lives lost, the worsening of existing health conditions or new medical challenges, job losses and business closures.

We may now be over the worst of the pandemic but we’re facing other major issues…long covid, cost of living crisis, high fuel bills and a shortage of affordable homes remain critical, especially for those with disability.

So today, I’m talking about the Purple pound. What it is, where it comes from what it signifies and how learning about it carries huge benefits for everyone.

You may or may not know that there are a number of movements within the country that have adopted a colour.

In the UK, we have the grey or sometimes called the silver pound that refers to the disposable income of people over the age of 55.

The pink pound is associated with the spending power of the LGBTQ community.

Sometimes, colours are connected to politics…  Labour talks about the red pound with reference to the blood of workers.

There is some history and many beliefs about how or why people, organizations and movements adopted the colour purple.

In 2010 for example, Franken wrote an article about Broken Britain-often mentioning the colour purple, subsequent protests, reports and blogs went on to adopt purple in their messaging, Phillip Connelly from Disability Rights UK has mentioned purple in many of his workshops and over the pond as it were, US service men and women are awarded the Purple Heart military medal.

So back here in Great Britain, the Purple pound is about recognizing the spending power of disabled people in the UK.

Through surveys and studies, this country recognizes that 1 in 5 consumers have a disability but a lack of understanding and acknowledgment of these figures means that businesses collectively can lose up to 2 billion pounds a month in turnover.

We’re now clearly living in the digital era-yet 16 billion pounds is reported as the loss to businesses that still have inaccessible or inadequate websites for individuals with disability to visit and spend their purple pound.

A Lack of training and understanding what an individual with disability needs when they visit shops, office or particular services adds up to 263 million pounds a year loss. It’s interesting that almost 40% of this loss (163 million pounds) is apportioned to shops, restaurants and clubs.

It’s worth pointing out that disabled people within their own families and friends can quickly become influencers

They’ll talk with their friends, family and others in a similar position about the good and bad experiences they’ve had while out and about.

We know that when families and friends of those with disability are planning activities, occasions or events their mind will more often be directed to those places and businesses that have the right things in place to meet additional needs.

So, today as I’ve done many times before, I headed out to my local high street on my foldaway scooter-this time, really observing the businesses that I could access and those that had inadequate setup OR worst still- no disability access in place at all.

Disability awareness is not just about having a ramp to access a building but thinking about and creating the best possible access onto premises really is the right start and a standard requirement that some business still largely ignore.

So I wanted to draw attention to some of the businesses on my local high street that are failing to provide basic ease to access their premises.

These shops and businesses whether intentionally or unintentionally discriminate against the disabled and in doing so are not operating to their fullest potential. Considering the challenges affecting high streets, many businesses need to do more to recognize the immense value of the purple pound.

On a positive note, I also believe that it’s really important to let businesses know when you feel they’re doing things right, things that have enhanced your experience while visiting them because whether you are a business or someone managing disability (in this case mobility challenges), your input is valuable and can really make a difference to our society, how we live, what we’re able to do and to our economy.

Most of us are quite familiar with stair lifts-what they look like, how they’re used and the options available to suit different stair configurations and with adverts and promotions, they’ve been largely marketed for the elderly.

And for a long time, stair lifts were considered to be the cheapest and only domestic option that enabled people with mobility impairment to move from one floor to another- thus enabling individuals to carry on living in their home.

In the last 10 years, designers and manufactures have been working with new technology to create the through floor lift- meant for homes and compared to the stair lift, these through lifts are providing greater benefits for a wider group of people that are unable or struggle to use the stairs.

There are still valid reasons why a through floor lift would not be considered by someone with mobility impairment however, the benefits to their independence and quality of life become significant if specific problems can be resolved.

 Some of the benefits are:

1) A standard home lift is far more reliable than a stair lift which can often breakdown, leaving users potentially ‘trapped’ upstairs or confined to the downstairs until the problem is fixed.

2) Stair lifts may initially appear to be the cheapest option but the ongoing cost of repairs, maintenance and servicing means that, in the long run, it is far more cost effective to purchase a domestic lift.

3) The lifts do not take up an abundance of space or spoil the aesthetic of the home like a stair lift can.

4) Home lifts are far faster when compared to stair lifts which sometimes seem to take a lifetime to get up or down the stairs. A through-floor lift is capable of taking one passenger up to one floor in under 30 seconds.

5) Domestic lifts also allow for more than one person to travel at one time, meaning that unlike a stair lift, no one person needs to be left at the bottom or top of the stairs while the other one uses the lift.

6) Domestic lifts can also be used to assist people that want to transport a variety of household items between floors.

The Tray buddy makes the job of transporting food, drinks and other items around the home easier and safer using just one hand.
It is very useful in the case of Parkinson’s disease, Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, or Stroke symptoms for example where balance, weakness and steadiness are difficult or there is incapacity to part of the body
​The ‘Tray buddy can provide assistance during rehabilitation after many kinds of operations such as: hip replacements, surgery to limbs and joints, Mastectomy (breast removal) or Lumpectomy.
In addition, any number of frequently recurring conditions that create physical difficulty such as fractures or a slip disc would benefit from ‘Tray buddy use.
The great thing about the ‘Tray buddy’ is its ease of use with or without disability. It can be conveniently and practically used by anyone wanting to make the job of transporting small items around the home that much easier.