Suffolk business celebrates 100 life-changing home improvements and making the impossible, possible
A Stowmarket-based business offering life-changing home improvements to elderly and disabled people in Suffolk is celebrating a special milestone this week, having completed a project for its 100th customer.
Suffolk Mobility Solutions offers a range of tailored home adaptions – from hand rails, easy to use door handles and taps, to bathroom conversions, ramps and accessible gardens – to enable elderly, disabled and vulnerable people in the county to live safely and independently in their own homes.
The company was set up by Ian Bell, who launched the business in October 2020 after being made redundant from his job at a builders’ merchant after Covid. Working alongside a team of specialist fitters, Suffolk Mobility Solutions brings together Ian’s knowledge and contacts from 30 years in the building trade with his personal insight gained from altering his own home after his wife had a stroke.
The company’s 100th customers were Liz and Rod Ayden from Ipswich. Liz suffered a major stroke in August 2023 which significantly affected her mobility, and what she missed most was being able to take a shower and wash her hair. The couple contacted Suffolk Mobility Solutions about making their bathroom more suited to Liz’s needs earlier this year, and this summer their ensuite was transformed into a fully accessible wetroom.
Liz, a retired tutor for people with dyslexia, said: “The stroke I suffered last year has severely affected my left side and with arthritis too, getting around has been increasingly difficult – even in my own home. Luckily our bedroom was already on the ground floor of our house, but its bathing I struggle with most. I can’t get into the bath, and while I have some lovely carers who come round, there’s nothing like being under a stream of warm water and washing your own hair in the shower.”
Since the bathroom adaptation was completed by Suffolk Mobility Solutions’ fitters Jamie and Taylor, Liz has said the company has made “what was impossible, now possible”.
She added: “The adaptations have returned my dignity, independence and privacy. I can get myself in and out of the bathroom and use the equipment on my own. I feel safe and secure even when alone in the bathroom. The whole room is brighter and the grab rails are so beautiful, I’d love them throughout the house.
“Clean hair, a good scratch and clean feet are life’s little luxuries, and with my new accessible ensuite bathroom I can have at least have two out of three!”
Liz’s husband Rod was equally pleased with the new accessible ensuite. He said: “When we were first visited by the occupational therapists, I was like a rabbit in headlights – we were told we couldn’t do this or that. But then along came Ian and he said ‘it’s your home you can design it how you want it’. As a result, what we have is practical but not institutional – it still feels like our home. Ian’s knowledge, experience, expertise and ideas have given Liz her independence back and we couldn’t have done it without him’
“I didn’t think we’d find a specialist who understands accessibility over and above what occupational therapists recommend. Ian’s personal experience is the difference.”
For Ian, reaching the 100th customer milestone has been an opportunity to look back and reflect on the many lives he and his team of fitters have changed for the better since the business was established four years ago.
“What we do is more than just installing ramps, wet rooms and widening doorways – it’s a personal service which takes the time to ask people what alterations they need to make their life easier and allow them to do the things they love”, said Ian.
“For Liz it was being able to have a shower and have some privacy! For others its being able to get out into the garden, or to be able to cook again. I set up the business to make a difference to people’s lives and offer solutions which help people enjoy their forever homes. Achieving this for 100 people in Suffolk is something I am incredibly proud of.
“There are a couple of other companies out there who do what we do, but none with as much empathy and I think that comes from my own experience of having to adapt overnight to a new reality when my wife suffered a major stroke which left her requiring a wheelchair. There’s no manual for dealing with a life altering moment like that.”
To find out more about Suffolk Mobility Solutions, get in touch