i'm still waiting for one for mum. 
i just filled in a written form rather than doing anything online.
i just filled in a written form rather than doing anything online.Blue Badge?
- Thread starter stanleypj
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If you think you are going to have a problem, talk your AS or other helpful person, age uk, your county family Carers and they will either give you pointers or help you fill out the form. We have one each, OH with dementia, me with OA. No problem. Eternally grateful!
Off at a tangent, but blue badge once caused me to have to break into my own house! Mother's birthday, brother also came to CH and we took her out for tea. Went in my car, having borrowed CH's blue badge.
After arrival back, realised had left BB in my car. Gave keys to brother who went to fetch it - he left shortly afterwards. 20 mins later I went to leave, only to realise that brother had gone off (an hour's drive) with my car and house keys in his pocket! 2 buses home, ladder from garage, thank God one small upper window open, broke in using broom to manipulate lower window handle.
Frantic search for spare car keys, 2 buses back to CH, many most unladylike curses at brother...
After arrival back, realised had left BB in my car. Gave keys to brother who went to fetch it - he left shortly afterwards. 20 mins later I went to leave, only to realise that brother had gone off (an hour's drive) with my car and house keys in his pocket! 2 buses home, ladder from garage, thank God one small upper window open, broke in using broom to manipulate lower window handle.
Frantic search for spare car keys, 2 buses back to CH, many most unladylike curses at brother...
I have just applied for a BB for Mum. She has a mobility assessment next month. That will be interesting. Are the rules the same nationwide or are councils allowed to "make up" their own rules? I have a friend who looks after a woman (in her 50s) who had a brain hemorrhage aged 18. My friend has to sleep over a couple of nights a week. She has no mobility problems but doesn't go out alone. She doesn't have a car but she has a BB. Very odd.
Hi
The badge is for the person with the disability, not for a vehicle. It makes perfect sense for someone whoe doesn't have a car to have a blue badge. The badge is to be used in any vehicle where the main purpose of the journey is for the badge holder. Badge holder must be present - you can't use it going shoppingfor the holder if they aren't present, for instance.
Sent from my GT-P5110 using Tapatalk
The badge is for the person with the disability, not for a vehicle. It makes perfect sense for someone whoe doesn't have a car to have a blue badge. The badge is to be used in any vehicle where the main purpose of the journey is for the badge holder. Badge holder must be present - you can't use it going shoppingfor the holder if they aren't present, for instance.
Sent from my GT-P5110 using Tapatalk
Yes, my dad didn't have a car but had a BB, useful when any transport came to take him anywhere, so they could park, as he was blind. And I am applying for one for mum who also doesn't have a car, so I can use it in my car when she is with me.
O.K. I just made some progress.
First though, someone I phoned in the council - very helpful attitude, though not directly responsible - told me the local library could download a form.
Off to library and explained the situation to another very helpful woman who quickly searched and then printed a form off.
After I got home I discovered it was a form for Northern Ireland which turns out to be the first thing you see if you google it!
Left it for a while then today I found a page with a helpline number, albeit a 0844 number (more expensive than an 0845 number). The helpline has been outsourced to a private company.
Phoned anyway and after listening to a considerable number of irrelevant automatic choices got through to a real person. Explained the problem: 'No way of getting past the initial questionnaire unless you have higher rate Disability Living Allowance'. She knew immediately what I was talking about and told me the 'fix'.
This is it for anyone who is looking for it in future: Click 'other' at bottom of first page checklist. This will take you to second page. Click the second one down whcih refers to difficulty in walking.
Then you'll eventually be let into the actual application. There is a heavy emphasis on walking in the questions you have to answer and so I used every opportunity I could find to stress that walking unaided my wife was a danger to self and others, couldn't possibly find her way anywhere, is liable trip or topple, has difficulty getting in and out of cars especially where space is restricted......all the points mentioned earlier in the thread.
I've sent it off now and will post the result when I hear.
This help page, which contains the phone number, is very off-putting in not mentioning the kind of difficulties that this thread has outlined as requiring a blue badge:
http://www.parkingforbluebadges.com/application-blue-badge-pfbb
I hope all this will be of benefit to other people.
First though, someone I phoned in the council - very helpful attitude, though not directly responsible - told me the local library could download a form.
Off to library and explained the situation to another very helpful woman who quickly searched and then printed a form off.
After I got home I discovered it was a form for Northern Ireland which turns out to be the first thing you see if you google it!
Left it for a while then today I found a page with a helpline number, albeit a 0844 number (more expensive than an 0845 number). The helpline has been outsourced to a private company.
Phoned anyway and after listening to a considerable number of irrelevant automatic choices got through to a real person. Explained the problem: 'No way of getting past the initial questionnaire unless you have higher rate Disability Living Allowance'. She knew immediately what I was talking about and told me the 'fix'.
This is it for anyone who is looking for it in future: Click 'other' at bottom of first page checklist. This will take you to second page. Click the second one down whcih refers to difficulty in walking.
Then you'll eventually be let into the actual application. There is a heavy emphasis on walking in the questions you have to answer and so I used every opportunity I could find to stress that walking unaided my wife was a danger to self and others, couldn't possibly find her way anywhere, is liable trip or topple, has difficulty getting in and out of cars especially where space is restricted......all the points mentioned earlier in the thread.
I've sent it off now and will post the result when I hear.
This help page, which contains the phone number, is very off-putting in not mentioning the kind of difficulties that this thread has outlined as requiring a blue badge:
http://www.parkingforbluebadges.com/application-blue-badge-pfbb
I hope all this will be of benefit to other people.
My wife can do very little for herself. But she can get in and out of our car with help and she is 'mobile', that's to say that, hooked into my arm, she can walk. She can walk unaided/unaccompanied, but never does so as she is liable to wander off, has no sense of direction and would not be able to ask for help. She also stumbles quite often.
She receives the lower rate mobility allowance as part of her disability allowance.
I have worked through the Directgov Eligibility check and it appears that she is unlikely to obtain a badge (presumably because of her 'mobility').
Being able to park in places where there is adequate room to get her in and out without damaging other cars or ourselves would be very useful. People who should know, who have worked with people with dementia, are surprised that she is apparently ineligible.
Discuss.
Hi. I rage over the whole blue badge thing. Once a confirmed diagnosis is made re dementia, it should be as simple as it is for those suffering with cancer. I am going through application now, and mum will *go into the pile with the others* and wait 8 to 10 weeks. Mum has a terminal illness, much like cancer, but there is no help and no fast tracking for the badge. I find the whole thing horrendous, most especially as this is a vital component to prevent wandering away. I have got extremely upset about the whole application, and may well write to my MP or someone who maybe able to campaign for the blue badge to be made available immediately the diagnosis is made, just as it is for cancer sufferers. Good luck to you.
I completely understand your frustration and anger.
The problem is that the whole scheme is still really based on physical disability. That's no excuse, just an explanation.
When I've got this sorted I'm going to see what can be done about it.
I wish you well with your application Doylie. Please keep us informed.
The problem is that the whole scheme is still really based on physical disability. That's no excuse, just an explanation.
When I've got this sorted I'm going to see what can be done about it.
I wish you well with your application Doylie. Please keep us informed.
I applied for a blue badge for my husband who is as your wife is and was refused, but will try again. I have emailed Tesco to ask if they would like to lead the way in providing spaces for carers alongside parent and child after my husband nearly got knocked over in their car park. They replied with some enthusiasm but I have not seen any changes yet.
Just a small point. In the London borough in which I work you can get hard copies of Blue Badge application forms, plus guidance notes for completing the forms, plus a sheet with the contact details of the local organisation, a charity, which processes the application on behalf of the Council from any of the 12 local libraries. Library staff will help customers fill in the form and if queries arise, we ring the charity to talk things through. The point has already been made that its best not to underestimate mobility and to include as much detail as possible of other issues. By and large the process seems to work pretty well. You can hand the completed form into the library and we will photocopy accompanying documents, giving you back your originals, relieve you of your ten pounds, send off the documentation and follow up progress for you if you don't hear back for a while. If you want to collect the badge from us you can do so, or from the local charity offices, whichever is more convenient, but the disabled person must attend in person to collect the badge, it can't be collected by a proxy. If you can't get out of the car to come into the library, we will come out into the car park to hand it to you. The process is taking between four to six weeks at present. Library staff are council employees but are pretty sympathetic in my experience, as are the staff at the charity.
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Thanks for this Deborah. It's good to hear that in at least one borough there has been a detrmined effort to help people.
Yes that sounds very good. meanwhile, up in Worcestershire, the wait for a blue badge goes on and on...
I started reading this thread as I need to sort out a blue badge for my mum, she can't walk outside the house without a stick and has a push along 3 wheel thing for any distance.
However a note of few of you have commented on the mother and child parking spaces. My children are 8 and 12 so it is not so long ago that they were a god send. Whilst there are some places I can't take my mum easily without a blue badge, this doesn't stop her having food on the table. I drove away from supermarkets when the mother and child spaces were full on more than one occasion. With a 10 week baby in a car seat, no more than 5 hours sleep and a 4 year old post cesarean, I could not carry the car seat to the trolley if I had to walk too far. When they were older (2 and 6) a busy carpark is not the place to be walking across when you are herding sheep (children). Until they can do their own seatbelt up (about the age of 3.5) you need the width to reach into the seat to undo it and do it up for them.
Some shopping areas near me had mother and child spaces away from the pavement and I didn't use these as I didn't have somewhere safe for the older child to stand when I was getting the younger one out of the car.
The mother and child spaces have a pushchair on them, and once I no longer used a pushchair I no longer used the spaces.
I realise some of you do need spaces without any areas with cars as well, but don't assume all parents using these spaces could easily manage without them.
However a note of few of you have commented on the mother and child parking spaces. My children are 8 and 12 so it is not so long ago that they were a god send. Whilst there are some places I can't take my mum easily without a blue badge, this doesn't stop her having food on the table. I drove away from supermarkets when the mother and child spaces were full on more than one occasion. With a 10 week baby in a car seat, no more than 5 hours sleep and a 4 year old post cesarean, I could not carry the car seat to the trolley if I had to walk too far. When they were older (2 and 6) a busy carpark is not the place to be walking across when you are herding sheep (children). Until they can do their own seatbelt up (about the age of 3.5) you need the width to reach into the seat to undo it and do it up for them.
Some shopping areas near me had mother and child spaces away from the pavement and I didn't use these as I didn't have somewhere safe for the older child to stand when I was getting the younger one out of the car.
The mother and child spaces have a pushchair on them, and once I no longer used a pushchair I no longer used the spaces.
I realise some of you do need spaces without any areas with cars as well, but don't assume all parents using these spaces could easily manage without them.
Just a note to say I have been looking at these Blue Badge threads for a while. This week Sue was awarded one. It seems to me you have to get past the initial paper rejection and get an interview/assessment or at least that is what happened with us.
I got my letter together about Sue's difficulties and sent it to her doctor and the Leeds 'Younger People with memory problems team' here in Leeds. Asking them to support the application. They did, writing their own letters but using mine to guide them. Sue, like so many other Alzheimer's patients does not reach the actual criteria so we applied under the 'other' section. I re-wrote my letter and included the two professional ones.
At the interview the lady said she was there to help Sue to see if she could be given a badge not to try to exclude her. While she said Sue did not qualify under the actual regulations set out there was lee-way and discretion depending on 'need' - anyway Sue got a positive outcome here in Leeds.
I got my letter together about Sue's difficulties and sent it to her doctor and the Leeds 'Younger People with memory problems team' here in Leeds. Asking them to support the application. They did, writing their own letters but using mine to guide them. Sue, like so many other Alzheimer's patients does not reach the actual criteria so we applied under the 'other' section. I re-wrote my letter and included the two professional ones.
At the interview the lady said she was there to help Sue to see if she could be given a badge not to try to exclude her. While she said Sue did not qualify under the actual regulations set out there was lee-way and discretion depending on 'need' - anyway Sue got a positive outcome here in Leeds.
Glad to hear this Paul. The lady's attitude is commendable.
It would still be far better for all concerned if people living with dementia who have the difficulties mentoned in this thread did not have to jump through extra hoops.
Now that we're so often told that dementia awareness is growing it's surely time that a scheme designed for purely physical disability was redrawn to reflect this awareness.
It would still be far better for all concerned if people living with dementia who have the difficulties mentoned in this thread did not have to jump through extra hoops.
Now that we're so often told that dementia awareness is growing it's surely time that a scheme designed for purely physical disability was redrawn to reflect this awareness.
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I do know that. Sorry, I was so tired when I posted before that I didn't make myself clear. When I said very odd I meant that some councils give bb's for mental health problems and some don't. My brain has gone into meltdown and I think I have typed something and it's actually still in my head. I've probably just done it again. Duh!
I've now been informed that our application has been successful.
I hope others will find this thread useful. There are some good tips.
The key thing to remember is that as the whole scheme was set up for people with physical difficulties you have to jump through hoops and explain at every opportunity why the person who is living with dementia needs a blue badge.
And you will probably have to use the 'workaround' I was informed of by the helpline to even get access to the application form (this may not apply in all Local Authorities). I've mentioned this earlier in the thread but here it is again:
When you try to apply to your LA, you will probably be redirected to a Directgov Checklist. Click 'other' at bottom of first page of the checklist. This will take you to the second page. Click the second one down which refers to difficulty in walking.
Then you'll eventually be let into the actual application. There is a heavy emphasis on walking in the questions you have to answer and so I used every opportunity I could find to stress that walking unaided my wife was a danger to self and others, couldn't possibly find her way anywhere, is liable trip or topple, has difficulty getting in and out of cars especially where space is restricted......all the points mentioned earlier in the thread.
Good luck!
I hope others will find this thread useful. There are some good tips.
The key thing to remember is that as the whole scheme was set up for people with physical difficulties you have to jump through hoops and explain at every opportunity why the person who is living with dementia needs a blue badge.
And you will probably have to use the 'workaround' I was informed of by the helpline to even get access to the application form (this may not apply in all Local Authorities). I've mentioned this earlier in the thread but here it is again:
When you try to apply to your LA, you will probably be redirected to a Directgov Checklist. Click 'other' at bottom of first page of the checklist. This will take you to the second page. Click the second one down which refers to difficulty in walking.
Then you'll eventually be let into the actual application. There is a heavy emphasis on walking in the questions you have to answer and so I used every opportunity I could find to stress that walking unaided my wife was a danger to self and others, couldn't possibly find her way anywhere, is liable trip or topple, has difficulty getting in and out of cars especially where space is restricted......all the points mentioned earlier in the thread.
Good luck!
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