Move It or Lose It! founder picks up National Diversity Award

Fantastic to hear that Julie Robinson, founder of Move It or Lose It! exercise DVDs has won a National Diversity Award. The Awards celebrate the achievements of grass-root communities tackling the issues in today’s society.  Julie picked up the Entrepreneurial Award for Excellence in the Age category.

Julie Robinson is a specialist teacher of exercise for older or less able people of any age and runs a network of classes in the Midlands area. The Move it or Lose it! DVD reaches those who cannot get to an exercise class or as an additional resource for those who can.

 ”The idea for this DVD comes from my clients who are in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. From people in community centres to care homes, from Age Concern projects to hospice courses, so many people have said they want to follow the routines at home but can’t remember what to do. So the first Move it or Lose it! routine is aimed at those who need gentle but progressive exercise so they can improve their strength, mobility and confidence.

I am frequently contacted by the people who are concerned about their parents or grandparents as they are worried about their physical decline as they age. They know they need to exercise but don’t know what to do and cannot always get out to join a class. The Move it or Lose it! DVD brings the exercise class to their living room, encouraging them to keep on moving just like the people in the DVD”

To find out more and buy the Move IT or Lose It! DVD, CLICK HERE

Showcasing our products at the Community Network Roadshow

Mind Dice - dementia product

Last week I braved a blisteringly hot Holloway Road in North London to attend the Community Network Roadshow at the London Resource Centre (”Do you mean our old library?” asked the taxi driver).

I had been invited by Elizabeth Shaw, the Community Network’s Social Inclusion Manager.  The Community Network is a charity which uses telephone conferencing technology to help the socially isolated, for example through telephone befriending.

One of the aims of the Roadshow was to open people’s minds to new ideas about healthy ageing and Elizabeth thought that the people attending “would love to learn about The Future Perfect Company and take a look at some of your wonderful products”.

And so happily it proved.  We had a wonderful response to all our products and especially to our mission to bring good design to older people. Our leather Healthy Back Bag and Bionic gardening gloves were much admired (and stroked!) and everyone loved the handmade double handled mugs. There was also a lot of  interest in our new range of products for people living with dementia including the Mind Dice.

I also took the opportunity to showcase some of the work from our student design competition, Designing for the Future with the University of Brighton.

It was good to see other exhibitors promoting the healthy ageing message too. The Lions Clubs “message in a bottle” scheme struck me as a simple and effective way to ensure that important medical information was to hand in an emergency.

A great morning all round.

For more information about the work of the Community Network, go to http://www.community-network.org/

Introducing two new innovative products for people with dementia

With around 750,000 people in the UK having dementia – a number which is set to double in the next thirty years – more and more of us are being affected by this heartbreaking condition. Often it falls to families to try and help and one of the biggest challenges they face is how to maintain meaningful communication with their loved one.

These innovative new products are here to help.

Pictures to Share and Mind Dice offer a way for the person with dementia to interact with their families and carers in a meaningful and enjoyable way. They can be used by families at home and also in care homes and are versatile and attractive tools to help families make the most of their time together.

Pictures to Share

Pictures to Share are beautiful, non stigmatising illustrated books for people with dementia and their carers to share together.

As the creators of the Pictures to Share books explain : ” For those with a family member in the mid to late stages of dementia, the problem of maintaining meaningful communication can be one of the biggest challenges they face.

Many family members find the Pictures to Share books prove to be a great help in prompting a range of different conversations. They can also provide those with dementia living at home or in care with an enjoyable way to pass the time and an effective way of interacting with different carers and family members.

“I bought the books for my father who has dementia.  Even though we have only had the books for a few days, they have already proved their worth!

My mother has found that the carers enjoy using them, and they really help the respite volunteers to break the ice.  My father enjoys the pictures very much – we all do!”

For more information and to buy Pictures to Share – In the Garden, CLICK HERE

Mind Dice

Mind Dice also aims to help people with dementia communicate with their carers. Prompts written on a 12 sided dice, enable the person to tap into their remaining memories provoking stories and responses that can be enjoyed by family, carers and friends.

Mind Dice has been designed and produced by John Sprange through his direct experience of caring for his father who had Alzheimers. John explains :”My father had a rich store of memories. ..When he died, aged 95, mixed with my grief was a sense of loss for my access to his personal connection to all those years he lived through. His eyes were in effect my personal witness to almost a whole century, and through this I had become an expert on what he knew.

In his later days, despite not recalling what happened 5 minutes before, he was able to recollect memories from long ago. Frequently he brought to mind events that placed him where he was happiest and at the height of his powers. Any repetition was often mitigated by the nuanced differences which emerged with the stories. They certainly showed his true sense of himself. I experimented with the dice, which carried, names of people, place and themes. He would sit rolling it in his hands, reading the prompts and saying. ‘This is my life’ with a sense of surprise.”

For more information and to buy the Mind Dice, CLICK HERE

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These two new products join our popular Many Happy Returns 1940s reminiscence cards designed by Sarah Reed as a result of fifteen years’ voluntary work with the charity Contact the Elderly and her mother’s experience with dementia over ten years

Many Happy Returns 1940s is a lovely box of 24 carefully researched reminiscence cards designed to get old and young talking together about how life used to be, helping them to celebrate their personal and family stories. The cards offer a range of everyday subjects with large images, historical information and conversational prompts – from cleaning the step to playing conkers, from evacuation to rationing, from playing in the streets to that very first kiss…

For more information and to buy Many Happy Returns 1940s, CLICK HERE

Introducing our gorgeous new yellow and black double handled mug!

Hot out of its Forest of Dean kiln, I am delighted to introduce you to the latest addition to our range of popular handmade double handled teapots and mugs!  A lovely daffodil yellow with black handles and edging, it is the perfect mug for brightening up your kitchen in time for Spring.

Like all our double handled mugs, these mugs have been handmade for us by Reckless Designs so every one is different.  

The unusual two handled design makes this mug easy to hold even for those with weak wrists or arthritis  and it is particularly comforting when you are feeling under the weather or just wanting to relax.   Great for soups or a good old fashioned cup of tea. Makes an unusual Mothers Day present or housewarming gift but is also handy for the younger grandchildren.  Perfect for young and old alike, this is inclusive design at its best.

As it is handmade, supply is limited so you will need to be quick. For more information, including how to buy, CLICK HERE

!! New “Move It or Lose It” Exercise DVD!!

Know you have to exercise but finding it increasingly difficult? Want to improve your mobility but finding it hard to take traditional exercise? Want to buy an exercise DVD for a less agile parent or grandparent?. Then Move It or Lose It! is for you!

Easy to follow, from the comfort of a chair, these exercises set to toe-tapping classical music take less than one hour to do and increase strength, flexibility and mobility.

Endorsed by the Centre for Healthy Active Ageing Research and with no lycra in sight, the Move It or Lose It! DVD will help keep your body flexible, well co-ordinated and improve the strength of core muscles required to maintain good balance and prevent falls.

Hundreds of people of all ages, abilities and with many conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis and heart disease have improved their confidence and returned to weight bearing activities as a result of Move It or Lose It! :

 “l had my knee replacement surgery on 3rd Feb and was able to come home on 9th Feb with just the aid of a walking stick. l am convinced that all the exercises l undertook before going into hospital gave me this result.  l walk unaided in the house and have already taken two short walks out of the home with just the stick  without any effort at all. Keep up the good work!” 
Maureen, Leicester

“I have lymphoedema in both legs and was looking for a set of exercises that would help circulation without too much strain being put on the joints. I have recommended the DVD to other lymphoedema sufferers.”
Sheila, Hants

 “I think it is great and my mom has recently used it at home with my dad.  Mom has had an operation and couldn’t come to a class so it was good to get dad doing it at home with her. I think it is a great DVD and will recommend it to others.” 
Mel, Dudley

“I bought the DVD for my mother who lives in semi warden controlled accommodation. My mother (80) and her 8 neighbours use the DVD every week for their weekly exercise session, their ages range from 75-93 and they get enormous enjoyment and benefit from it.  If you release a further DVD let me know!”
Janice, Erdington

The DVD is the brainchild of Julie Robinson (B.Ed in Physical Education, NVQ II and III in chair based exercises and Extend) who is a specialist teacher of exercise for older or less able people of any age and runs a network of classes in the Midlands area. 

 “The idea for this DVD comes from my clients who are in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. From people in community centres to care homes, from Age Concern projects to hospice courses, so many people have said they want to follow the routines at home but can’t remember what to do. So the first Move It or Lose It! routine is aimed at those who need gentle but progressive exercise so they can improve their strength, mobility and confidence.

These exercises can re-introduce people to exercise, encourage people to move more regularly and help to maintain their independence as they are able to cope with their everyday activities.

I am frequently contacted by the people who are concerned about their parents or grandparents as they are worried about their physical decline as they age. They know they need to exercise but don’t know what to do and cannot always get out to join a class. The Move It or Lose It! DVD brings the exercise class to their living room, encouraging them to keep on moving just like the people in the DVD.”

Click here for details of how to buy the Move It or Lose It! DVD with FREE Exercise Band

Trabasack designer reaches finals of Stelios Award

We were thrilled to hear this week that Clare Edwards, inventor of the Trabasack, has been shortlisted for the Stelios Award for Disabled Entrepreneurs 2010 . 

Clare’s aim is to create innovative products that are inclusive and useful to everyone whatever their age or ability. Her first design is the multi-award winning Trabasack, a laptray and travel bag which enables the user to eat, drink, work or play wherever they are by providing a flat tray surface.

Founder of easyjet, Sir Stelios launched the award saying ; “I am very passionate about encouraging an enterprising spirit throughout British culture. Helping to remove the barriers that disabled people face in business is an important part of this. That is why I was keen to establish an award which gives disabled people an opportunity to showcase their ability rather than have them negatively judged by their disability. I look forward to seeing the best of the entries and meeting the eventual winner.”

Clare, a wheelchair user since a car accident in her teens, explains :   ”My biggest challenge has been to ensure that the volume, consistency and quality of work needed to create a successful business is achievable despite living with a disability. I have a strong internal drive and desire to be successful.

I have had to learn about marketing, sales, website design, manufacturing and logistics in a short space of time. Applying these new skills, whilst maintaining a professional standard throughout, is, at times, very tough.

We also have a child with severe epilepsy (Dravet Syndrome) who requires specialist care. It was my desire to help my disabled son access toys and switches that helped lead to the design of Trabasack.

I have focussed on my strengths such as design and creative work. Living with a disability means that you are always striving to adapt your environment to make life easier. It means you become a natural designer and inventor through your own needs.

My disability has been an advantage in that I have been able to create a “Design for all” product before knowing what that meant! “ 

Clare now waits to hear from the judges whether she will go on to meet Sir Stelios at a special judging lunch in London in October.  We wish her the very best of luck. 

To buy the Trabasack, click here

Forget old fashioned toilets, washlets are the way to go!

Yesterday I spent the afternoon looking at toilets. But these are no ordinary loos, these washlets are part of Japanese designers, TOTO’s campaign to revolutionise Europe with life enhancing clean technology.

Now the British don’t have a great record with equipment which bathes the nether regions. Remember bidets. Installed in their hundreds of thousand in bathrooms throughout the country in the 70s and 80s, many bidets have been left to languor as occasional and expensive footbaths.

But TOTO’s products which promise “previously unimaginable levels of cleanliness, relaxation and contentment” look set to change all that.

And they are beautiful.  Sleekly styled, elegant and modern, these toilets are fit to grace the most upmarket of bathrooms (and as architects and designers make a bee line for TOTO’s showroom in Clerkenwell, are doing so increasingly). And the features!  Automatic seat lift,  self cleaning washing wand using warm water, heated seat, deodoriser, Tornado Flush. The list goes on.

Have I convinced you yet? Another thought. Now, I know that we don’t like to dwell on these things but it did occur to me that a washlet would be a real luxury as we get older and ordinary activities like going to the toilet are not as straightforward as they once were. This is independence with real style!

And don’t get me started on the stunning illuminated washbasins..

For more information, go to eu.toto.com

Trabasack – a table anywhere! New product!

We are really pleased to introduce to you a new product – the innovative Trabasack. It was  created by artist Clare Edwards, when as an experienced traveller and busy mum, she identified a gap in the market for a portable lap tray which could also carry essential belongings.

The  Trabasack Mini  is big enough for most notebooks/netbooks computers and can be worn as a rucksack or a messenger bag. With a firm leather feel surface on one side and a bean bag cushion insert on the other, the Trabasack gives you a flat surface wherever you need one, making it ideal for writing notes in a lecture or meeting or having a snack in the car, lunch in the park or sketching. If you have ever found youself struggling to write in your notebook on your knee, balancing coffee cups on the dashboard or your netbook on a cushion on your knee, this is for you.

The Trabasack can also make it easier to give children snacks whilst they are out and about in their pushchairs.

In smart black, the versatile Trabasack is at home in the lecture hall,  the office or at home. Much more stylish than the traditional beanbag lap trays.

Particularly useful for wheelchair users, side straps are available separately for additional anchoring.

For more details, including information as to how to buy, click here.

Culti Cave featured in Choice magazine

Nice feature on the Culti Cave in July’s edition of Choice magazine.  A newcomer to The Future Perfect Company range, this innovative product allows you to erect a greenhouse wherever you want one and it is as easy to take down as it is to put up (handy if you are planning a summer garden party and need the extra space).  It is surprisingly capacious by itself but if you want more growing room, you can zip one or more units together. It is also much safer to have around than the standard glass greenhouse, particularly when you have boisterous small children visiting. We are growing tomatoes and melons in ours. What will you use yours for?

For details of how to buy the Culti Cave, click here

Many Happy Returns 1940s – New!