Gerald Simonds

Santa Claus is coming to town...

2011-10-19T03:50:00.000-07:00

Each year over 1000 people in the UK are paralysed following a spinal cord injury. It is a devastating injury that affects all ages and all backgrounds. The Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre in Salisbury provides specialist care following a spinal cord injury and patients come from all over the South and South West of England.The Southern Spinal Injuries Trust (SSIT) raises money to help support the Spinal Centre and also funds specialist equipment for people living with spinal cord injury in the region.

For the past two years the SSIT Santa Fun Run has taken place at Longleat and over 300 Santas have taken part helping raise money for the charity. This year Heptathlete Lucy Boggis, aka ‘Tempest’ in the television show Gladiators, is set to lead the warm-up for the fun run taking place at Salisbury Cathedral.

With seasonal music, provided by the local entertainment management company Orangements, and some gentle stretches led by Lucy, the Santas will be well prepared for the one or two mile run, jog, walk or push around Salisbury’s Cathedral Close. The event will be fully supported by the 4th Battalion, The Rifles, who will be supplying tents for registration and route marshals, and is sponsored by the wheelchair specialist Gerald Simonds.

If you'd like to take part then you can register online at http://www.ssit.org.uk/ Good luck!

When Graham met Sir Frank Williams ..

2011-09-05T03:19:00.000-07:00

I recently had the privilege of visiting the Williams Formula 1Team HQ at Grove, near Wantage in Berkshire. I’d been given the opportunity of interviewing the founder of the company, Sir Frank Williams, about the physical and psychological benefits of using a standing wheelchair. Sir Frank has been using various Levo standing chairs since a road accident in France in 1986 left him paralysed from the shoulders down. We spoke a few days before he left for the Belgium Grand Prix and Sir Frank spoke openly and – dare I say it – frankly, about his accident and what led him to believe so strongly in the benefits of standing. The article will appear in the next article of Spokesman and should be well worth reading. Graham Jeffery

Want to learn more about Levo standing wheelchairs? View the range on our website here http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/catalog/index.php?CG_ID=13

To subscribe to our Spokesman Newsletter visit http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/spokesman.php

Totally cool wheelchairs for totally cool people!

2011-05-23T04:10:00.000-07:00

As a major fan of all three versions of the hit American TV Series CSI, I was particularly excited to see one of the actors from CSI Vegas advertising TiLite wheelchairs on the attached poster!

CSI Vegas has to be the best of the 3 series and Robert David Hall, pictured here in a TiLite 2GX, plays the dry witted, blues loving Medical Examiner. Robert is an amputee and in the Series walks aided by a crutch and prosthesis, but as the poster points out, his wheelchair of choice is a TiLite 2GX! http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/catalog/product.php?CI_ID=91

I already knew that TiLite make the coolest manual wheelchairs, but this confirms it for me!

Check out the full range of TiLite wheelchairs on our website http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/catalog/search_results.php?MF_ID=9

You could be free & easy with the new FreeWheel!

2011-05-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

They say there’s nothing new under the sun. But would you settle for something that was a little bit new? A little bit better? I would if that if that little bit new and better was the Free Wheel. It’s a third wheel for that old wheelchair of yours.

A third wheel that even a novice para can get a little more whiz from, and the sort of freedom to push and enjoy that an old para could only dream of. Until today that is , because the Free Wheel, according to Doug Robinson MD of Gerald Simonds ,‘is one of the best advances in wheelchair independence in years.’

What’s truly remarkable in the over-priced wheelchair world of, ‘How could anything dare to cost so much!’ is how at £395 it could cost so little. (Less if you take up Gerald Simonds offer of £375 with free delivery too on GS-Direct http://www.gs-direct.co.uk/)

The FreeWheel is an American invention. It’s a simple wheel that clips on to the front of a rigid frame chair’s foot plates. (Sorry only rigid frame chairs – at the moment.) The wheel is about a foot in diameter and raises your plates of the ground leaving you with a stable go-anywhere (well nearly) chair. You can cut across grass, go through snow, cross over sand and take on terrain that previously would have left you stranded and generally become free as a Californian beach bum.

The FreeWheel is to our world of wheelchairs what the 4-wheel drive is in the land of cars. Nowhere is off bounds. It just opens up the options. Attach it and your chair truly becomes a land rover, just like its capitalised car counterpart. And all with a wheel less.

Technically it’s Germanic in its precision and Honda-like in its absolute fitness to do the job it was designed for. It’s simple to clip on. And once on stays that way, come rough ground or even rougher handling. Then when it’s time to revert back to the orthodox you, it practically zips off, it’s so easy and immediate.

To see the FreeWheel in action and showing all its amazing virtues simply check into the http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/ website. There you’ll find a 2 minute video that will put you fully in the picture.

This blog was written completely independently by one of our valued customers Barry Brooks. If you are interested in writing a review of one of our products then please e-mail emily.tomson@gerald-simonds.co.uk

Wheelchair Athletes Shine at Inter Spinal Unit Games

2011-04-21T07:36:00.000-07:00

Approx 80 competitors from 13 spinal units across the UK tried their hand at a range of sports at the 24th Inter-Spinal Unit Games at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. The event held next to Stoke Mandeville Hospital - the birthplace of the Paralympic movement - is held annually to promote a healthy and active lifestyle through sport for people who have been paralysed in the last year.
The games feature a mix of competition and ‘have-a-go’ sessions, allowing participants to experience a wide range of sports. Archery, table tennis, bowls, swimming and shooting were among the activities competitors could take part in.
Gerald Simonds Healthcare helped to sponsor The National Spinal Injuries Centre (NSIC) team, from Stoke Mandeville Hospital, who came 2nd in the overall games, organised by the charity Wheelpower. The NSIC’s team competitors were, Luke Wright, Tim Jacobs, John Dunford, Phil Pain, Simon Pinnell, Nuno Santos, Paul Holgate and Sarah Thomas.
The team won 2 individual trophies; One in Table Tennis and another in Swimming. The team also got Bronze and silvers in Bowls and Table Tennis. All competitors did extremely well and achieved their goals in all the sports that were put on.
The three-day event had a positive impact on the whole team. The Inter-Spinal Unit Games are a great opportunity for people with spinal cord injury to try sports in a supported and encouraging environment.
The ethos is to encourage participation in sport, which the NSIC’s founder, Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann, began here more than 60 years ago. Sport therapy not only works alongside physiotherapy, it also gives great social interaction and a confidence boost to people after a spinal cord injury.

"We are very proud of our team and the personal achievements they each have made. " Georgina Friend and Theresa Dunlop
Sports Therapy, Clinical Support Workers at Stoke Mandeville Spinal Unit

Website

2011-02-17T03:29:00.000-08:00

Have you seen our new home page? www.gerald-simonds.co.uk It's got a fresh new look with scrolling images of the various categories of products that we supply such as wheelchairs, powerchairs and pressure relieving cushions and backs.

We wanted the site to be more interactive and attractive and think the images really show the potential for an independent lifestyle whilst using a wheelchair. I particulary love the picture of the guy fishing from his TiLite wheelchair and the young girl playing fetch with her dog. What do you think?

Another thing we've started doing is adding testimonials to our product pages. Check out what people have been saying about the Jay 3 Cushion http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/catalog/product.php?CI_ID=152 and TiLite TR http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/catalog/product.php?CI_ID=97 as well as E-Motion power assisted wheels, Adventure and Salsa M Powerchairs.

Clients who are wiling to share a little bit of their lives and the ways our products help them to get on, enforces our belief that we have the best Mobility and Seating solutions available to wheelchair users in the UK and would love to hear from anyone who has a story to tell.
We hope you like the improvements to the website and would equally love to hear from you with any comments on how else we can enhance your online experience with us.

Thanks
Emily

Product Update

2011-02-01T06:38:00.000-08:00

We've recently added a new video to www.gerald-simonds.co.uk It shows the new TiLite ZRA2 with One Arm Drive. The left or right hand One Arm Drive allows you to propel and manoeuvre the wheelchair with the use of just one arm, with a direct drive design which gives much less play between the pushrims. This makes it more efficient to push reducing stress on your muscles and joints. Check it out and let us know what you think http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/catalog/product.php?CI_ID=149

While you're there, have a look at our range of Gel Ovation wheelchair and walking aid accessories http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/catalog/product.php?CI_ID=148

Thanks for visiting!

We've won an award!

2010-11-25T05:48:00.000-08:00

Well it's always nice to feel appreciated and we feel especially proud to have been chosen as Sunrise Medical's Elite Dealer of the Year 2010.

We were presented with the award at a dinner and awards ceremony preceeding the launch of the Quickie Life Wheelchair and you can see Doug Robinson MD accepting the award here http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/news.php

Doug said it was a fabulous evening not just because of receiving the award but also to hear a very interesting and inspiring talk from the Paralympic Swimmer Sascha Kindred. I'll have to try and get a ticket for next year's dinner!

If you would like information on any of our products or would like to speak to one of our mobility or seating specialists about your needs then please refer to our website http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/ or contact us on Freephone 0800 220975

Welcome back Emily, we've missed you!

2010-11-08T00:40:00.000-08:00

I’ve been working with Gerald Simonds stuff for some years now, amongst other things putting together Spokesman, our customer newsletter and looking after the website. When we took the FreeWheel out to get some photographs, I thought it was one of the niftiest accessories I’d seen in a long time. It basically turns your wheelchair into a three wheeler which can cope with most surfaces. It weighs under 5lb and clamps on to the footrest of pretty well all rigid frame manual chairs and lifts the front castors off the ground. We ran it over kerbs, grass and rough gravel and it coped admirably. We’ve put some videos on the Gerald Simonds website: http://www.gerald-simonds.co.uk/. Have a look and prepare to be amazed!

Brave New World

2010-10-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

Well I've been back at Gerald Simonds HQ for just a little over one month now having been on maternity leave with my second child for just under a year and I can honestly say it has been a very exciting return! No sooner had I had got my first cup of tea in hand and reminded myself how to use a computer, than I was being asked to get started on Twitter! Tentatively braving the social medium, I have found it to be a really exciting way of keeping on the pulse of what is going on in the disabled community and others within our industry and although I'm still a newby at it, I hope that our followers will find us an interesting and engaging company to communicate with. Having assigned Twitter to my "to do" list, I was swiflty asked to draw up a Marketing Campaign for the launch of our exciting new FreeWheel all terrain wheelchair add on. Straight back in to what I enjoy doing best and with our team at the ready it was great fun getting FreeWheel off the ground. If you're an active rigid framed wheelchair user and you haven't already checked it out then do so on our website www.gerald-simonds.co.uk

It was the launch of FreeWheel that prompted us to get more videos uploaded to our website homepage and now we're blogging! It's a brave new and exciting world and I'm loving being a part of it.

We have more new products on the horizon and the Kidz Up North Exhibition is coming up next month so we hope to have lots more to share in the coming weeks and will do our best to keep you up to date. Bye for now.