The Quingo team recently got in contact with a scooter user who had a particularly interesting story. We were very touched by what he had to say, so thought we’d share it with the rest of our users.

Buckingham Palace Garden Party

Maurice Bernard, a Quingo Scooter user from Kent, was on last year’s Queen’s birthday honours list and received the British Empire Medal for his work with people suffering from dementia.

He attended the garden party at Buckingham Palace with his daughter and his son-in-law who was giving him a lift down to the event.

Mr Bernard recently bought a Quingo Flyte and the docking station was fitted into his estate car, which meant he could load and unload his scooter without having to dismantle it or lift it. However for this particular journey there were three people who needed to get to Buckingham Palace so when Qunigo team heard about Mr Bernard’s situation we knew we could help and leant him a Quingo Air. This is one of the lightest portable scooters in the Quingo range, which easily dismantles and was able to fit in the boot of Mr Bernard’s son-in-law’s car. Now everyone could comfortably fit in for the special journey.

Meeting the Royals

Mr Bernard and his daughter met the Royal Family, including the Queen, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Camila, Duchess of Cornwall. Mr Bernard said that Prince Charles in particular was very interested in his Quingo and even asked how fast it could go!

Work with Dementia

Mr Bernard’s work with dementia began when his wife was diagnosed with vascular dementia and was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent. Mr Bernard thought the nurses, although very well trained, did not understand the mind-set or needs of someone with dementia. He discussed his concerns with the Director of Nursing who was very interested in what he had to say. Mr Bernard discussed the Butterfly Scheme (this provides a system of hospital care for people living with dementia or who simply find their memory isn’t what it used to be) and the Dementia Buddy Scheme.

Taken with what Mr Bernard had to say, Medway Maritime Hospital created an 8 bed unit for dementia patients. They gave patients the same bed every day, the same carers every day and the same doctors every day. This is really important for dementia patients and helps improve their condition.

Because of Mr Bernard’s hard work and campaigning for dementia patients, the hospital decided to name the ward ‘The Bernard Unit’ after Bernard and his wife.

Work Goes On

Mr Bernard’s work doesn’t stop there, he still does lots of work in the hospital including helping to replace the old wash basins with wet rooms, which are much more suitable for dementia patients. The hospital has also installed handrails for patients who like to get up and wander around.

The Quingo team would like to congratulate Mr Bernard on his British Empire Medal and could not think of a more deserving person to receive such a great honour. We hope Mr Bernard continues to work with and for dementia patients to improve care and accessibility in the hospital and we’re very grateful that we can share his inspiring story.