Disability Networks is a Manx Registered Charity (Number 1113) and a Company limited by Guarantee, No. 127389C. The registered office is at 2 Smeale Cottages, Andreas, IM7 3EB. Contact telephone number is 455110.
Disability Networks was established in 2012 in recognition of the vast amount of Manx disability information that is available but the absence of a map to find your way round it.
3 out of 5 of us will be carers at some point in our lives. Let’s make sure we can easily access information about support and opportunities available in the Isle of Man.
Our aim is to provide a simple signposting website and then extend our services in line with user feedback. The Directors of Disability Networks include Mrs Beth Martin, Mr Michael Riddell and Mr Steve Coren
We hope you find the website useful and will support this initiative by using the site at your convenience. Please send feedback comments by using the feedback option on the homepage or emailing disabilitynetworks@manx.net.
Should you wish to talk to someone knowledgeable, check out the “Who can I talk to?” list under the Carer Support section.
Who are we?
The Directors include Mrs Beth Martin, Mr Michael Riddell and Mr Steve Coren. Beth’s role is that of coordinator. Between us we have a really useful set of skills. Mike and Steve provide Beth with invaluable guidance, expertise and encouragement.
Data Protection
DATA PROTECTION: We only retain any personal information you give us for the minimum period necessary for us to contact you in the case of a query/for the period of time that you are a volunteer/for suppliers to provide the present requirements. We never share that information with third parties and we never use it for marketing. For more information please contact us at disabilitynetworks@manx.net
Poster
Should you want a Disability Networks poster to display at work or on your premises to help make others aware of the website, please email disabilitynetworks@manx.net and we can email a copy to you.
Our Wonderful Supporters
The Manx Community has made this website possible by generously giving money, services and skills. We include some of those below in reverse chronological order. Thank you so very much, all of you.
The Directors of Disability Networks were humbled to receive £2,500 from the amazing Peel Charity Shop. This will be used for the planned glens book and spare wheels for the beach wheelchairs. April ’22
When disbanding, the Ramsey St Andrews Society donated £400 to Disability Networks and this will help us achieve our next goal of a Manx glens guide book which includes access information. April’22
Bride Wesley Guild donated £152 to Disability Networks and this too will go towards the junior beach wheelchair. Brilliant! March ’22
Thank you very much FIM Capital for the donation of £50 in exchange for a photo for their lovely FIM Capital desk calendar. January ’22
Thank you very much Isle of Man Self-Catering Owners Association who are going through the process of disbanding and chose Disability Networks as one of their chosen charities to donate the accumulated funds to, gifting Disability Networks £842- 21p. This is a bonus to our funds and will help us to achieve our next goal of purchasing a junior wheelchair. December ’21
A “Wonder of Wool Day” given by Sue Quilliam and Sara Hogg at Smeale Farm raised £150 for Disability Networks. Sue, Sara and Beth gave 25% of the income and there were extra donations on top. It was a great day out laughing and learning in the warm sunshine in the traditional farmyard. Thank you very much all who attended. Summer 2021
At the official launch of the beach wheelchair on February 24th Bill Mummery of Celton Manx who funded that chair announced that they were happy to fund a second chair too. The funds have been transferred and the chair ordered. So far the second chair has been held up by the Suez bottleneck and also the shortage of parts due to covid but hopefully it will arrive this summer. A massive thank you goes to the Celton Manx for their generosity. February 2021
Thank you very much FIM Capital for the donation of £50 in exchange for a photo for their lovely FIM Capital desk calendar. January 2021
A Ramsey performance based on Stories from Stone led to a surprise donation from Kim Kneen and Vicky Lloyd-West of £50 to Disability Networks. Thank you so much ladies! A great afternoon’s entertainment too. 14th December 2020
Manx Telecom donated £1,000 to Disability Networks to help us buy another beach wheelchair so more people can access our beautiful UNESCO biosphere beaches. Discussions at the presentations from other charities indicate that a child’s chair would be brilliant. We have another goal in sight. 13th December 2020
Out of the blue came a phone call from Zurich in Douglas. Disability Networks had been chosen to receive £500 to celebrate PurpleLightUp day. This global day marks the contribution that working disabled people give to the world’s economy. We hope to put this money towards another beach wheelchair. 4th December 2020
A big thank you goes to Ramsey Rotary Club for paying £90 to cover the travel insurance for the beach wheelchair. Also to FCX Express for freighting the chair at cost price. We see yet again how together the Manx community make things happen. Next is the insurance to run the wheelchair service! November 2020
Once again we held a fundraiser at Smeale Farm in conjunction with MNH’s Heritage Open Days. This time we held two in one day and raised £130 . We hope everyone enjoyed their visit. Thank you all for attending. October 2020
The Manx registered charity SKILS disbanded after 7 years and lots of funds raised to assist with educational costs for those who are learning disabled.Their Directors chose to donate £400 to Disability Networks. We are sad to see them go but we understand the reasons behind this decision. Thank you for donating funds to Disability Networks, we are very grateful indeed. September 2020
After Covid 19 lockdown, we were able to hold two events (due to demand) at Smeale Farm, listening to the first pre-release reading of stories from Story from Stone, written by Kim Kneen and Vicky Lloyd-West and based on the graveyard at Ballure Chapel. £197 was raised. Thank you to everyone for the mountain of raffle prizes, attending and being such a great audience. Kim and Vicky are amazing! August 2020
A dream is starting to crystallise – Celton Manx through their Celton Recognition Award scheme have chosen Disability Networks to receive £3,000 to buy a beach wheelchair and set up a loan service in Outdoors Ramsey South promenade location. Wow! So exciting! Thank you so much Celton Manx! February 4th 2020
We celebrated 5 years since the Disability Networks website launched, by holding a photographic evening of four different photographers with different styles at Babbages with a soup supper in between. It was a beautiful evening with a super bunch of people. Again this event raised awareness of what we offer and raised £253 as well. We thank everyone who attended, gave raffle prizes and bought raffle tickets. You are a lovely bunch of people. November 30th 2019
The Smeale Farm Heritage Open Day event raised £62 50p. Along with other cash donations that had been donated that made £78 to add to the Disability Networks bank balance. This tour was booked within 5 hours of the HOW booking system opening. Thank you to everyone who attended in terrible weather. Fortunately we were under cover except for dashing between the buildings. November 2019
A massive thank you to Just Care Products for funding the re-design and printing of 2,500 Disability Networks leaflet of first contact points for those without access to technology. This is great news! Then came the fabulous news that Julie Corteen of Moving Clouds Media has personally covered the cost of increasing that number to 5,000. We hope to have these ready for the Northern Community Days where the attendees for their flu jabs can pick them up and ask our representative any questions they may have. September 2019
July brought in donations from the Ramsey Rotary Funday of over £65, a donation of £30 raised by face painting at the Tynwald celebration at the Ginger Hall Hotel (thank you Dilys for thinking of us), and a generous £100 from the organisers of the magical Mannkind Festival. Your generosity is much appreciated. July 2019
A storytelling Smeale Farm event, “Telling Tales at Smeale”, raised £170. A big thank you goes to the talented storytellers, raffle prize donors, Smeale Farm and the attendees. What a brilliant evening! May 2019
Isle of Man Self-Catering Owners Association enjoyed a tour of Smeale Farm which raised £70 in donations for Disability Neworks. Thank you very much indeed. May 1st 2019
Disability Networks were invited by Lloyds Bank to listen to philanthropist and entrepreneur Bernie Hollywood talk about fundraising on Friday. Bernie was sound and pragmatic, having raised huge sums of funds for charity over many years and has given us plenty of food for thought. I would like to thank Lloyds Bank for giving us this opportunity. March 2019
Fiona Rowe of On Course Tuition gave Beth an excellent Microsoft tutorial as a donation to assist in the office administration needed for the charity. March 2019
Lloyds Bank generously included us in their Digital Garage sessions designed for small and medium enterprises including charities. These were excellent and will help us in numerous digital ways. The security session was rather terrifying as fraudsters become increasingly organised and sophisticated. Thank you so much for this guidance. March 2019
We give a massive thank you to Peel Charity Shop for their gift of £1,000 after reading our annual newsletter. This was a wonderful surprise and the cheque arrived at just the right time. We are so grateful. February 2019
We were delighted to get input from Dr Alex Allinson MHK regarding new developments in health care for our website. It was very generous of him to take the time to look through the site and his suggestion has now been included. His feedback about the contents was very positive and much appreciated. February 2019
A big thank you goes to Ben and the team at the Ginger Hall Hotel in Sulby. Disability Networks was given the opportunity to hold a raffle during their Songs and Supper event. This raised £80 and a big thank you goes to all those who donated prizes and everyone who purchased tickets at this lovely event. The pub was buzzing that night! January 2019
A clothes swap in late December 2018 followed by a car boot sale attended in January 2019 raised just under £100. We hope everyone one was delighted with their bargains.
The Heritage Open Weekend 2018 event raised £47 in donations in return for a cuppa and a cake from our local history lovers. Thank you again folks. October 2019
FIM Capital have generously donated £300 for the supply of photographs for their FIM desk calendar. I love their calendar which sits very neatly and is full of local images. December 2018
The Heritage Open Day event at Smeale Farm on October 8th raised over 90 pounds in donations. Hope everyone enjoyed themselves who attended and we thank you for your support. October 2017
Many thanks indeed go to FIM Capital who have donated 500 pounds to Disability Networks in exchange for using 3 photographs in their desk calendar given to their many clients on island and overseas, taken by one of our Directors. We are saving up for bus adverts at present. March 2017
Following a Disability Networks presentation to the members of the Isle of Man Health Services Retirement Fellowship, they presented a WHSmith giftcard worth 20 pounds. This was used to buy some storage boxes to file Disability Networks paperwork and information in. Thank you, it will be good to tidy up the mounting piles of useful information! March 2017
On December 9th 2016 Shoprite gave us the opportunity to bag pack in their Victoria Road store in Douglas. We rustled up a lovely group of volunteers including some students from St Ninian’s High School. Lots of goods were carefully packed and those marvellous shoppers donated a total of 606 pounds and 5 pence, a big boost to our finances. Thank you all.
A big hurrah for Alison Gomme who has crafted some charming bunting in lovely colours to dress up the Disability Networks stand at exhibitions and events. Beautifully made, this will be a joy to use. Thank you! December 2016
October brought heritage lovers back to Smeale Farm for the Heritage Open Weekend event on 9th October 2016 that focused on the farm heritage. We raised over 90 pounds in donations for Disability Networks and hope everyone had a lovely time in the sunshine.
A big thank you to the Bride Wesley Guild for their generous cheque for 100 pounds. The cakes were excellent too – thank you for listening to the Disability Networks talk. More posters will be ordered now to help people find the support they need promptly. April 2016
Having monitored the interest in our Disability Networks “first points of contact” leaflets, DLP have very generously agreed to fund a further 5,000. The wording has been improved and now includes the Live at Home telephone number as this age group is the most likely not to have internet access. Thank you very much indeed. March 2016.
Peel Charity Shop have donated 1,400 pounds towards the continuation of the Browsealoud function after our contract expires at the end of 2016.This will go a long way to securing that facility for another 2 years. We are so grateful, thank you. February 2016.
DLP, local suppliers of bespoke kitchens, bathrooms and equipment made on the island for those with disabilities, have funded 1,000 leaflets for Disability Networks listing essential first contact points. This will help us to reach those with no computer access and start them on their journey towards support. Thank you so much DLP. February 2016.
Thanks again to Moving Clouds Media for designing our new bus adverts due to appear on buses from 2nd November 2015 for 12 months.
A big thank you goes to Moving Clouds Media for setting up the new Disability Networks facebook presence and their generous offer to administrate it along with one of our Directors. We hope that events and items of interest will be added here to provide a fast changing source of information. Moving Clouds Media for your marketing consultancy, graphic design and public relations needs. Keeill Ny Magher, Bride. Tel 882088 www. mcmiom.com
Disability Networks were given the opportunity to hold a bucket collection at the Villa Marina on 23rd July. Thank you to all the generous folk who contributed on their way out – the total raised that evening was 640 pounds. The T-shirts looked great too.
60th birthday party donations raised in support of Disability Networks totalled 180 pounds. This cash will be used to buy 6 Disability Networks T-shirts ready for the bucket collection at the Jools Holland concert on Thursday 23rd July 2015. The remainder will also go towards the 2 banners now ordered. July 2015.
Through the Celton Manx Recognition Scheme, Disability Networks has been awarded 1,500 pounds to fund the BrowseAloud option on this website for a further two years. This is brilliant news and means the future of this facility is now assured for this period. There will be enough funds to put towards a banner to help make the Manx public aware of the website, to be used at exhibitions, shows etc – March 2015 – www.celtonmanx.com
Celton Manx Ltd, Celton House, Isle of Man Business Park, Douglas, Isle of Man. IM2 2QZ
Reception Tel: +44 (0) 1624 721977
Just Care Products Ltd have kindly donated 100 pounds towards the Browsealoud function that we are presently raising funds for. This reads the text aloud, translates content into many languages and can shade out what is on the screen so that dyslexics can focus more easily on the part of the text they are reading – Dec 2014. Contact Just Care products for a wide range of aids to independent living at Tel:627177 email: tracey@justcareproducts.co.uk https://justcareproducts.co.uk/
Manx Telecom kindly helped us to buy business cards and posters to publicise the existence of the site with a donation of 180 pounds, through their “It’s Our Community” scheme – Dec 2014 www.manxtelecom.com
Miles and Pippa at Noa Bakehouse for generously hosting our website launch – November 2014 – Tel: 618063 Fort St., Douglas IM1 2LJ
Printers Quine and Cubbon for funding 20 Disability Networks laminated posters – Oct 2014 – Tel:832141 email: hello@manxprint.com Athol St, Port St Mary
Department of Health and Social Care for proof-reading the site – Oct 2014
Typefast Services for making corrections and compiling the Power Point Presentation – Oct 2014 – Tel: 403250 email: traceymaloney@manx.net
Servicetech Ltd for hosting the site and giving technical support when required – on-going. Tel: +44 (0) 1624 639420 Email: helpdesk@servicetech.co.uk Website: http://www.servicetech.co.uk Postal address – ServiceTech Ltd Integrity House 17-21 Market Street Douglas Isle of Man IM1 2PA
Greystone for preparing the accounts – 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. Tel:620711 email: mail@greystone.im www.greystone.im Talbot Chambers, 18 Athol Street, Douglas IM1 1JA
Scott Barham at Staplefish for delivering a clear easy-to-use website at a very good price with unfailing patience – Aug 2014 email:scott@staplefish.com
An anonymous donation of 1,000 pounds through MiddletonKatz that allowed this project to proceed. Middleton Katz, encouraging enterprise, Tel: 648500
Neil Kinley for his voluntary IT work preparing a draft site which allowed Scott to price a CMS site accordingly – 2013
All those that gave guidance on how best to communicate local disability information. These incude Keith Fitton, Dr Ian Kewley, Neil Kinley, John Knight, Jackie Betteridge, David Gawne, Chris Robertshaw, and the Service Tech team amongst others.
All those that have helped to compile the information
Anonymous but lovely logo donation
Anonymous donation for the domain name
Thank you also to all those who have attended our small fund-raising events, bought cakes, raffle tickets, listened to music, danced, walked and hopefully enjoyed themselves.
What a wonderful community we live in!
Users’ Comments
Thank you for providing us with feedback on the site. See below for comments:
“The Disability Network website is based on the Isle of Man for people with all kinds of disabilities. It’s for people to get useful information about around the Isle of Man. The website has a lot of functionalities and links which are linked to other pages off the website. For example…places to eat, places to go and do. The whole website is written in large and clear font so everybody can read it. In my opinion, this website is brilliant for attracting people to come to the Isle of Man, and for the residents on the island to know what is out there for them.” – comments Danina.
“An excellent website and most informative.” – Jan.
“What a great job you have done.” – Olwyn.
“What you are doing will be greatly appreciated” – Peter.
“I am sure it will be a big and positive step forward”- Howard.