A COLLECTION of electric wheelchairs and zimmer frames have been donated to elderly and vulnerable residents in need of a helping hand.

Age UK Canvey teamed up with Castle Point and Rochford Councils to give eight electric buggies, three wheelchairs and 20 zimmer frames to people across the boroughs who struggle to get out and about.

Alf Boyce, who suffered a heart attack, credits the scheme for giving him back his independence.

Mr Boyce, 75, of Willow Close, Canvey, said he feels like he has “won the lottery.”

He said: “I have never been given anything like this before, so I am over the moon.

“I have been having problems with my lungs, and I had a heart attack in 2000. It meant I needed a quadruple bypass to get it fixed. Since then I have been having problems walking, when I have been out and about with the wife shopping.

“I would have been taking breaks in between lampposts, and each time I walked somewhere, I would have it in the back of my mind ‘you’ll have to get back there too.’

“At least now I am more mobile and can get out and about, which is really great.”

Peter May, Canvey Independent councillor for Central Ward, is calling on others in need of help to come forward.

He said: “It’s very rewarding and we are hoping to help people who are finding it hard to walk about. We are a bit limited as to what we can do because of space, So we need to work out how we are going to store everything.

“Alf said he was finding it hard to walk everywhere, it just gets him out again. We know how much of a difference it can make.”

Government laws state that you don’t need a licence to drive a mobility scooter or powered wheelchair, but you may have to register it. Only certain types can be driven on the road.

Mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs come in two categories. The first is class two carriages’- which can’t be used on the road and have a maximum speed of 4mph. Class three carriages can be used on the road, and have a maximum speed of 4mph off the road, and 8mph on the road

E-mail cllr.pmay@castlepoint.gov.uk for more information about the support scheme.