Blackwood Development gets shiny new upgrade for better accessibility

An important step was taken this week at Blackwood’s development at Laura Ferguson Court in Edinburgh, that will be a boost to the independence of residents as well the overall accessibility of the building. A brand new, modern and stylish lift was installed that will give residents (many of whom have mobility issues) much quicker and easier access to the whole building.

And in true Blackwood style, a resident at Laura Ferguson Court stepped up to cut the ribbon officially opening the new lift.

Mike Cavanagh who did the honours was delighted to get to do the official opening, and speaks highly of the new lift which he says was a welcome upgrade from the previous model which was beginning to feel its age. “I know it’s a lot faster than the other one. The old list was really slow, even the doors would open and shut really slowly. So this is a good step up.”

Another resident, Mandy Montgomery concurs, saying “It’s brilliant. It’s a lot more stylish and modern than the last one, and much faster.”

Blackwood Assets Officer for the east, Patrick Connolly was responsible for overseeing the new installation and speaks very highly of the support Blackwood received from residents and other staff;

“We had quite a lot of work to do before we even got close to installing the lift. We had to get Mandy Kennedy (who is the Service Manager for the East) and her support staff involved as well as the housing team. We spoke to the residents to make sure everything would be kept in place for them because when we were actually putting the lift in it meant that it was out of operation for 6 weeks which had a big impact on the tenants. We had to ascertain; could people use the ramp? Could they get out to get their shopping? Various different things like that had to be assessed.”

Patrick showers further praise on Omega Lifts who did the actual installation, speaking positively of their professionalism and courtesy towards the tenants.

“The contractor we were working with, Omega, and who actually installed the lift had a very good rapport with the tenants, which of course makes a massive difference and the job much easier.

Everything with the project went very very well. The tenants were great. They were very curious; when we took the old lift out they all wanted to look inside the pit to see what it actually looks like. There were quite a few cups of tea made in the lounge (next to the lift) when the work was ongoing.”

The ribbon cutting was followed by a small party made up of staff and residents who all helped make it happen. This new lift is just one of three being installed at Blackwood developments, with other installs happening in Raeden Court in Aberdeen and Abbey Street in Edinburgh.

Blackwood Development gets shiny new upgrade for better accessibility

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