Istay@home seminar welcome

Editor's Notes

1. Founded over 40 years ago, we’ve been delivering housing to show how it can be done since 1973 when our first scheme opened in north London. Since then we’ve grown to run over 3300 properties up and down England and Wales.. But our role has not only be to provide homes and services, but to share what we learn and lead thinking about what is and should be possible in pursuit of better housing options for disabled people
2. inclusive design has been at the heart of our approach since the start – our belief is that good design of environments and services is a potent force for increased independence and equality.
3. …we have been deeply involved in promoting inclusive and accessible design since XXOur standards include the Wheelchair Housing Design Standard and the Lifetime Homes Design Standard which have served as the industry templates for accessible design - acknowledge the review?
4. Images: Mind the Step, Space to Move, Mind the Step, Scotland.We also have a long tradition of research, both collaborative and independent, adding to the sectors knowledge and highlighting the strategic issues that can make significant impact on disabled people’s housing opportunities.
5. The Istay @ home research project is our major research activity this year.It takes the inclusive principle and ‘grows it’ to consider all that the 21 century has to offer. Technlology is so much part of everyday life for so many of us, but it can only release some of its potential to support older and disabled people if it is affordable, available and ‘usable’. It also needs to be known about! (Note: photo comes from was used in a Guardian Article - Nov 2011 - discussing how making phones more accessible to older people could make them easier to use for everyone - !)So Istay is important to us because it looks atHow can ICT products and services can help ensure that disabled and older people can sustain independence?What are the most potent and affordable solutions already on the market?As well as answering these questions the project seeks to share and promote the findings - enabling housing providers and individuals alike to tap into a valuable information resource to get them along the road to their own solution without having to reinvent the wheel (or the handset).