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At Gentle Grip our aim has always been to help people find the right socks for them, to make their life a little bit more comfortable. Whether that’s helping them discover our health and wellbeing IOMI FootNurse range, or guiding them through our range to find the right socks for their needs, we believe we believe comfort starts from the feet up!
That’s why we’ve started working with Purpl, the UK’s first disabled discount site. Founder Georgina Colman tells us more.
I’m Georgina, founder of Purpl Disabled Discounts, I live with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and I understand how daunting it can be to navigate the financial challenges that come with living with a disability. From managing day-to-day costs to finding support and resources, there’s so much to juggle.
We know that living with a disability comes with extra costs, Scope state that figure is around £1010 a month and call it the Disability Price Tag. There are countless lesser-known opportunities to save money, access free resources, and benefit from the UK’s support systems. Purpl aim to be a trusted guide to how to maximise your savings, find the best discounts and access the support available for disabled people.
Extra Costs for Disabled People
There is so much data that tells us that life costs more for disabled people, these are not luxuries but daily living costs that non-disabled households simply don’t experience in the same way.
Energy and Household Bills
Disabled people have extra spending on energy and household bills, as they often require more electricity and hot water due to their impairments, this may be extra laundry costs or powering medical fridges and charging electric mobility scooters or wheelchairs.
Travel
Travel needed for medical, or treatment appointments stack up, but there are also costs for taxis when people are unable to drive or manage public transport. Disabled people and their families also pay more for accessible rooms and holidays.
Insurance
Some services for disabled people cost a lot more than for non-disabled people, including life and travel insurance.
Food and Supplements
There are huge hidden costs when it comes to specialist diets, not only for people with intolerances and allergies but often medically informed food choices cost a lot more. Many disabled people take supplements and vitamins that are not covered by the NHS.
Cost of Therapies
Many disabled people like osteopathy, acupuncture, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation type therapies like hydrotherapy.
Specialist Disability-Related Products
There are products and services that are necessary to meet disabled people’s needs. For example, hearing or other sensory equipment, manual or electric mobility aids, and hygiene products that are vital for healthcare or home adaptations. Society assumes these are things covered by the NHS or government funded, but the reality is that these become personal extra costs to the disabled person.
Cost of Living for Disabled People
With these examples of extra costs, there is a difficult pressure on disabled people and their households to manage an acceptable standard of living. When you add on the rising living costs and cost of living crisis faced by all of the UK, the impact on disabled people is doubled.
There are also barriers to employment, social interaction, and medical care; these factors all combine and mean that disabled people are more likely to be living in poverty, these costs push people into debt. It is very difficult to build savings or future-proof finances when living in a financial deficit.
Disability-specific benefits are available, but there are issues. Things like Personal Independent Payments (PIP) are specifically meant to fund the extra costs of being a disabled person, not for living expenses, yet they often don’t even cover the impairment or mobility costs themselves.
The benefits system for disabled people is confusing and overwhelming, there are barriers that stop people from accessing the financial support that they are entitled to, and also there is a lack of information and knowledge of the other areas of support available when a person does claim them.
How Can Purpl Help?
Purpl is the UK’s first disabled discount site, we source exclusive discounts from hundreds of brands for our members. But we are so much more, Purpl is a company built by disabled people for disabled people and it has a social cause at its heart. Purpl brings the disabled community together, provides disability information and has a focus on giving back to disabled charities.
We want to make life better for disabled people in the UK and one of the ways we do this is through sharing information, we want to be the trusted space for guides on disability and finances. From PIP and benefits to all the areas that you can save money when you do claim PIP, such as Disabled Person’s railcards and bus passes, how to pay less for your car tax, energy bills and disability aids.
We know we cannot change the whole world and eradicate the financial impacts of disability in the UK, but we aim to offset some of those extra costs and help the disabled community by saving as much money as we can! That's why we're excited to work with Gentle Grip and are pleased to announce that they're offering 15% discount across their entire range to all Purpl members.
How to Join Purpl
It is free to join Purpl, members can access huge savings, enjoy offers and competitions, access important savings information and be safe in the knowledge that through buying with Purpl, they are supporting the disabled community.
To become a member, you need to live in the UK, be disabled and have one of these government, council or verified documents:
● Blue Badge
● Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
● Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
● Attendance Allowance
● War Pension Letter with Disability Component
● Scottish Adult or Child Disability Living Payment
● Employment Support Allowance (ESA)
● Access to Work Award Letter
● Disabled Bus Pass
● Disabled Rail Card
● Access Card
● Disabled ID (DID) Card
For more information and to join today click here.