!! 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!

New product! Innovative Culti Cave

Double handled teapot featured in Design Week

This week’s Design Week featured a photo of our innovative double handled teapot made for us by Reckless Designs.

http://www.designweek.co.uk/news-in-pictures/3008891.article

New! Double handled teapots

Just arrived today! Forest of Dean potters, Reckless Designs have made this innovative range of teapots especially for The Future Perfect Company. Designed to complement the double handled mugs, these teapots brim with character and have a useful second handle by the spout which makes them easier to pour. Hand made and hand painted so no two teapots are the same.

I came across the prototype for this design when I visited potter, Kevin Burke at Reckless’ studios in the summer. He had made it a couple of years ago and it has been languishing on a shelf. I persuaded him that it would make a perfect partner to our popular double handled mugs.

For details of how to add this characterful piece to your kitchen, go to http://thefutureperfectcompany.com/shop/items/135/double_handled_teapot_by_reckless_designs__blue_stripe

Please note that there is limited availability.

New! Bionic™ Gardening Gloves

I have just added some fantastic leather gardening gloves to www.thefutureperfectcompany.com These gardening gloves from the Bionic™ range were designed by an American orthopaedic hand surgeon and protect your hands as well as increasing your gripping power. They also have very effective wrists supports, which are great for people like me whose wrists get sore after an hour or so gardening. A perfect Christmas present.