Barrow Library is hosting a take-back event with a difference from Tuesday 21 – Saturday 25 June. For one week only, people can bring back unwanted aids to daily living to the local library from where they will be collected, cleaned and sanitised for reuse.

Due to supply difficulties, as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, as well as a desire to reuse valuable equipment rather than throwing it away, Cumbria County Council’s Waste and Community Equipment Services have joined forces to appeal for people to return equipment such as commodes, toilet frames, bed levers, over-the-bed tables and shower chairs.

The council has already introduced a service so people can deliver aids to daily living to their local Household Waste Recycling Centre, but the Library Service has also stepped forward to provide a convenient central location in Barrow for a second pilot take-back event, following a successful event in Kendal Library earlier in the year.

Cumbria County Council’s Community Equipment Service provides free equipment across Cumbria to support people to help with normal daily tasks. This helps people stay independent in their own homes, and the service desperately needs returns of equipment no longer in use.

You may have forgotten about no longer needed equipment, or do not know what to do with it, either way you can free up some space by returning the equipment easily and conveniently to Barrow Library from 21 – 25 June, or to a local Household Waste Recycling Centre after the take-back event has ended.

Walking aids should still be returned to your local hospital. Details of how to do this can be found at: https://www.ncic.nhs.uk/news/for-crutch-sake.

“Our aim is to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible and this excellent new service does just that. By setting aside this equipment for cleaning and immediate reuse we reduce the energy and transport miles required to get these resources back into circulation.

“I encourage anyone who has aids for daily living that they no longer need to bring them back to the library or alternatively to take them to their nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre after the take-back event has ended.”

“People across the country are facing shortages of the essential equipment they need to stay as active and independent as possible. By creating an easy way for people to return equipment that is no longer needed such as commodes, shower stools and over-bed tables, in a good, clean condition we will be able to help many more people continue to live in their own homes.”