Sainsbury's to roll out new trolleys to help parents of children with disabilities

Sainsbury's is rolling out a new range of shopping trolleys designed especially for parents of children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy or autism.

The supermarket will begin introducing nearly 600 of the trolleys to its stores across the UK from today.

The new trolleys are fitted with a special padded seat and harness designed for maximum comfort and security and all Sainsbury’s supermarkets will have at least one of the new trolleys by the end of October.

More details : http://www.theretailbulletin.com/news/sainsburys_to_roll_out_new_trolleys_to_help_parents_of_children_with_disabilities_15-09-14/

Champion Cyclist becomes a Patron of Hearts and Minds

Paralympic Medallist Rik Waddon has become a Patron of Hearts and Minds.   A British road and track racing cyclist, who has cerebral palsy, he is married to British Paralympic swimmer, Natalie Jones, and lives in Chorley, Lancashire.  He won medals for Great Britain at both the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games.

Hearts and Minds founder Ian McGrath commented:  "I am absolutely delighted and honoured that Rik has become a Patron.  He has been a huge supporter of Hearts and Minds over the last year and helped to raise the profile of the many fund-raising events that he has taken part in, such as the Cycling Buddy Charity Challenge in Spain.   Everyone at Hearts and Minds is looking forward to working with him even more closely in the future."

Find out more about Rik here:

Facebook: Rik Waddon

Twitter: Rik Waddon

Website: Rik Waddon Official Site

In the News: January 2013

The announcement that two of Team GB's Olympics cyclists will be joining the CycleBuddy Cycling Challenge charity cycle for Hearts and Minds in May boosted newspaper coverage in January.

The story got great coverage in the Manchester Evening News:

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/the-united-star-will-join-bmx-star-1239888

More and more families are successfully collecting old mobile phones to swap for an iPad from Hearts and Minds, and some are getting so many donations of phones that they are getting additional iPads for other children, or sending the spare phones directly to Hearts and Minds:

http://www.shoresideprimary.org/news_detail.asp?Section=8&Ref=323

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2013/02/06/donate-a-phone-to-help-kids-just-like-kind-hemlington-girl-lucy-jo-84229-32755467/

Other families are using local newspapers to appeal for phones:

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/nine_year_old_lowestoft_schoolboy_is_calling_out_for_old_phones_1_1793079
http://www.newmarketjournal.co.uk/news/latest-news/help-answer-mother-s-call-for-old-phones-1-4584306

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/health/10150217.Mute_Greenwich_boy_could_communicate_with_family_thanks_to_unloved_mobiles/

And a reminder that it's not just children with autism who can benefit from iPad, they can be used to help with other special needs too, like cerebral palsy:

http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/hundreds_donate_phones_to_help_st_neots_boy_2_with_cerebral_palsy_get_ipad_1_1796685

Another way to appeal for phones is through a personal blog like this one:

http://aworldofspinning.blogspot.ie/2013/01/we-need-your-help.html

If your child needs an iPad please check out Hearts and Minds:

Website: http://www.heartsandmindsphones.co.uk/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HeartsAndMindsUK
Twitter: @handmchallenge