Lisburn stylist pledges to a lend a hand during switchover

HAIR stylist Martine Broggy has pledged to lend a helping hand to customers by letting them know about the help available from the Switchover Help Scheme.

With only six weeks to go to switchover, Martine, from the Natural Hair Company is urging Lisburn residents to follow in her footsteps and lend a helping hand by thinking of someone they know that may need help switching to digital and telling them about the Switchover Help Scheme.

Martine and her fellow stylists are backing the Switchover Help Scheme’s ‘Helping Hand’ campaign to make sure every eligible older and disabled person in the Lisburn area knows about the help they can get from the BBC-run Help Scheme to convert one of their TV sets to digital.

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Martine explained: “We’re delighted to give a Helping Hand to the Help Scheme as many of our customers and their friends at the salon may qualify for help. TV is really important to lots of our clients and we often talk about what they’ve been watching while they have their hair done, so getting them ready for digital is really important to us all.”

Northern Ireland will begin to switch to digital on 10th October 2012. Eligible people have been posted a Help Scheme information pack explaining the offer and will be getting a follow up reminder letter. However, Martine is urging everyone who has already switched to digital to reach out to those older and disabled people they know who may still need help, and have not yet made contact with the Help Scheme.

Local Help Scheme representatives are holding events across the region to help spread the Helping Hand message. To find out more about events in your area visit www.helpscheme.co.uk/northernireland/events.

Helping Hand leaflets and bookmarks can be picked up at events and other public information points so that people can ‘lend a helping hand’ and tell someone they know about the Help Scheme by simply passing this information on.

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Local venues include: Lisburn Library, Linenhall Street September 14 10.30am – 12.30pm and The Natural Hair Company, Bridge Street, Lisburn, throughout September during salon Hours.

The Help Scheme makes it easier for eligible older and disabled to switch to digital TV. People are eligible for the Help Scheme if they are: Aged 75 or over, or have lived in a care home for six months or more, or get (or could get):Disability Living Allowance (DLA), or Attendance or Constant Attendance Allowance, or Mobility supplement, or Are registered blind or partially sighted.

Most people will be asked to pay £40 towards the help which includes: Easy to use equipment to convert one set; an approved installer to supply and install the necessary equipment, and a 12 month aftercare service including a free helpline.

The service is free for people who are eligible and who also receive pension credit income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance or income-related employment and support allowance.

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For the same price of £40 or free, people in Northern Ireland can also choose a Freeview HD box which can receive TG4, RTE One and RTE Two, where coverage is available. That option also includes installation and aftercare. Other options and equipment are also available, some at an extra cost, and these are outlined in the information pack.

People need to respond to get the help. Completed information pack forms can be returned to the Help Scheme, or, to make it even easier to apply, eligible people can also apply by calling the Help Scheme free on 0800 40 87 654. Any eligible person who needs help to apply can nominate someone else to complete their form for them.

If you would like to find out more about the Help Scheme and who is eligible to apply, please log onto helpscheme.co.uk.

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