Author Archives: wendy

Limbless swimmer Philippe Croizon links continents

August 18, 2012   Carers, disability

Philippe Croizon said he wanted to be an inspiration to other disabled people

18 August 2012 Last updated at 11:53

French amputee swimmer Philippe Croizon (R), and his friend swimmer Arnaud Chassery, celebrate after swimming between islands in the icy Bering Strait on 18 August 2012

A Frenchman who lost all his limbs in an electrocution accident has completed a swim to link five continents.

Using tailor-made flippers, Philippe Croizon finished his quest by crossing between the US island of Little Diomede and Great Diomede in Russia, joining Asia and the Americas.

The 44-year-old has swum three other straits since May.

Reaching shore, he said the icy waters had been a challenge.

“This was the hardest swim of my life, with a water temperature of four degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit) and strong currents,” he told AFP news agency. “We made it.”

He swam the 4.3km (2.7 miles) stretch in the Bering Strait in one hour and 20 minutes, accompanied by friend and long-distance swimmer Arnaud Chassery.

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Benefit reforms ‘will hit disabled’

August 17, 2012   Carers, disability, family, mental health, poverty

Low-income families and the disabled will be among the hardest hit by the pending abolition of housing benefit, a report has claimed.

Social tenants will “lose hundreds of millions of pounds” as a result of the UK Government’s welfare reforms, according to the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA).

Housing benefit will be phased out from April 2013 and substituted with the new universal credit, a single payment which will replace the current range of working age benefits. But the new order could result in “significant financial losses” to tenants on low incomes living in housing association and co-operative properties, the SFHA said.

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Care home procurement model fails vulnerable children

August 13, 2012   Carers

Parts of the country have a disproportionate numbers of care homes, with local authorities simply accepting what the market offers

The Ridgeway, Mill Hill East, London

Five thousand children and young people are in residential care, costing £1bn a year. Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Guardian

Certain parts of the country, such as Rochdale, have a disproportionate number of care homes – with children coming in from different areas.

The government has promised action on this, saying it will make it harder for councils to send children out of their areas. It has also asked Ofsted, which is responsible for inspecting care homes, to inform the police of care homes in their areas.

The problem has been attributed partly to care homes being situated in cheaper parts of the country because of market forces, as 75% of care homes are run by private companies.

However, this is a symptom of a major failure in procurement of care places by local government. The heart of the problem is that local authorities operate independently, thus preventing any coherent approach to managing the situation and influencing the market.

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