'Falls champion' Joanne lives up to her name after fundraising campaign to buy vital piece of equipment for Padiham home for the elderly

Joanne Turner has certainly lived up to her role as 'falls champion' at a Padiham home for the elderly.
Joanne receives a cheque for 1,000 for James Anderson of DEPHER towards the cost of the Raizer chair 11 at Padiham's Woodside Home for the ElderlyJoanne receives a cheque for 1,000 for James Anderson of DEPHER towards the cost of the Raizer chair 11 at Padiham's Woodside Home for the Elderly
Joanne receives a cheque for 1,000 for James Anderson of DEPHER towards the cost of the Raizer chair 11 at Padiham's Woodside Home for the Elderly

Her job is to prevent falls and have fall prevention equipment in place for residents who are at risk at Woodside Home for the Elderly.

And when she saw an amazing piece of equipment, called a Raizer 11, paramedics used when they were called to the home in Burnley Road Joanne knew they had to get one.

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Joanne explained: "When residents do fall, sometimes we need emergency assistance, but other times it's a case that they are unhurt but just can't get up by themselves.

Little Evie Turner (nine) hard at work making the Woodside AngelsLittle Evie Turner (nine) hard at work making the Woodside Angels
Little Evie Turner (nine) hard at work making the Woodside Angels

"Hoists are a fantastic piece of equipment and are a big part of repositioning, moving and handling with-in care homes, but they can be daunting to some and sometimes hard to manoeuvre into rooms or a tight space, it's sometimes impossible."

Raizer II is a battery-operated mobile lifting chair that helps a fallen person up to an almost standing position in a few minutes. The aid can be operated by only a single assistant, and it requires only limited physical effort from the operator aside from a helping hand.

But costing £3,700 the Raizer 11 chair comes at a price.

So Joanne began a massive fund raising campaign which was then halted due to Covid 19. Undeterred she continued to create her corklight bottles, made from old drinks bottles donated by well wishers, and sold them through the home's social media page.

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Joanne said: "During lockdown we used our facebook page to keep families and friends updated on their loved ones, posting regular photos abd videos which was really successful and engaging.

"That's when I came up with the idea of posting the bottles for sale on there and they were a massive hit."

Joanne sold personalised pens and the Woodside Angel keyrings were born to help with fund raising too.

As she couldn't keep up with the demand while making them herself she enlisted the help of her daughter, Evie (nine) and the duo spent hours making the angels.

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And with £1,000 to go to their target James Anderson, who is the founder of DEPHER in Rosegrove, Burnley, which provides free plumbing and heating for disabled the elderly, stepped in.

James bought 100 pens and when he found out about the fundraising for the chair he donated the final £1,000.

Joanne said: "I would like to thank James and also all the residents and their relatives who have made donations towards the chair. We could not have done it without you.

"Special thanks also to Karen Ingham who helped to sell some of the merchandise."