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Scottish council offers Zimmer frame amnesty Scottish council offers Zimmer frame amnesty
(about 2 hours later)
A Scottish council has offered an “amnesty” on Zimmer frames, in the hope that it can coax tens of thousands of disability aids out of the hands of residents who no longer need them but have failed to give them back.A Scottish council has offered an “amnesty” on Zimmer frames, in the hope that it can coax tens of thousands of disability aids out of the hands of residents who no longer need them but have failed to give them back.
Authorities in Fife have made provision for the anonymous return of Zimmer frames, walking sticks and bath aids at eight recycling centres across the county, after a pilot scheme in one area led to an 8% boost in the number of mobility aids returned.Authorities in Fife have made provision for the anonymous return of Zimmer frames, walking sticks and bath aids at eight recycling centres across the county, after a pilot scheme in one area led to an 8% boost in the number of mobility aids returned.
Related: The great Scottish Zimmer frame amnesty of 2016
Residents’ failure to return expensive equipment costs Fife hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, with the council’s health and social care partnership estimating that more than 160,000 mobility aids are sitting at homes across the county.Residents’ failure to return expensive equipment costs Fife hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, with the council’s health and social care partnership estimating that more than 160,000 mobility aids are sitting at homes across the county.
A council source told the Times: “Amnesties have been known to work for guns, knives and air rifles. Now it is the turn of Zimmers.”A council source told the Times: “Amnesties have been known to work for guns, knives and air rifles. Now it is the turn of Zimmers.”
Andrew Roger, a local councillor and chair of the partnership, told the Guardian: “Each year we deliver over 78,000 pieces of equipment to people’s homes but over the years there has been a buildup of equipment that has never been returned. At the moment we know there are over 160,000 pieces of assistive equipment sitting in homes across Fife.Andrew Roger, a local councillor and chair of the partnership, told the Guardian: “Each year we deliver over 78,000 pieces of equipment to people’s homes but over the years there has been a buildup of equipment that has never been returned. At the moment we know there are over 160,000 pieces of assistive equipment sitting in homes across Fife.
“We want to encourage as many people as possible to take items which are no longer needed to their nearest participating recycling centre or make an appointment for collection so it can be reused, recycled or turned into cash for reinvestment.”“We want to encourage as many people as possible to take items which are no longer needed to their nearest participating recycling centre or make an appointment for collection so it can be reused, recycled or turned into cash for reinvestment.”