Papworth Trust

Our services

• Housing Choices service (in partnership with FirstStop Advice)
• Home Solutions service, offering a compehensove package of advice, support and expert assistance to people who want to repair, improve or adapt their homes, or to move to somehwere more suitable
• Handyperson service
• Community Support service, providing care in your home

Click a link above for more information about our service and how to contact us.

An example of the work we do

A new shower makes all the difference

I visited Mr and Mrs B to help the couple apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to have a stairlift and level access shower fitted to their part-owned property, as recommended by the local authority’s Occupational Therapist (OT).

Mrs B sadly passed away during the DFG process, which meant re-involving the OT and starting a fresh application for the shower only. I helped Mr B do this, but during my visits also spoke to him about other help we could provide, for example to ‘downsize’ to a more convenient home (he was keen to remain where he was), to check his benefits and to apply for Attendance Allowance.

Now that he was alone, Mr B was more aware of the day to day problems he was facing, and we went ahead with an application for Attendance Allowance, which he later commented “has made all the difference in the world”. His DFG work is now also completed, and he wrote to say that he had been “very pleased with the professional, helpful and friendly attitude of the approved contractors” who fitted the shower for him.

News about us

OWL Bikes has university students in a spin at freshers' fair

OWL Bikes provides vocational training for disabled and disadvantaged people. It recycles and refurbishes unwanted bikes to sell to the public at reasonable prices – including 77 sales in just 9 hours at the Cambridge University Freshers' Fair at the beginning of October.

Staff and volunteers from the social enterprise sold refurbished bikes and accessories to students at a pop up stall on Parkers Piece, Cambridge.

OWL Bikes collects and repairs abandoned and unwanted bikes, saving them from going to landfill and selling them on to the local community. The project also provides vocational training for disabled and disadvantaged people.

"We've been really busy over past few months working hard to get all the bikes refurbished in time for the freshers' fair," said Cathy Shortland, Team Leader at Papworth Trust.

"We had a fantastic response and we're thrilled that we managed to sell over 70 bikes.

"We're back to our normal business hours now - if you'd like to find out about buying a bike from our workshop, arranging a bike collection or volunteering opportunities, please just get in touch."