COVID-19 Update: Our Shopmobility service is open
Ipswich Shopmobility provides free hand-propelled and electric wheelchairs and electric scooters to help people who have limited mobility, whether through permanent or temporary disablement, illness, accident or age, to shop and use other facilities in the town centre.
The Shopmobility Centre is located inside the Buttermarket Shopping Centre, on the Lower Ground level. When arriving by car use the Falcon Street entrance to the Buttermarket Car Park.
The Shopmobility service is available to book between 10am - 4pm Monday to Saturday. It does not open on Sundays or Bank Holidays
Bookings are required and must be made 24 hours in advance - please call 01473 222225 between 8.30am - 5pm Monday to Friday.
Equipment can be booked for up to 4 hours (as before), but bookings will be made to start at 10 - minute intervals, so that we can stagger customer arrival and departure times to ensure social distancing.
On arrival, please confirm your membership details, so we can verify the booking. Your equipment will have been prepared and sanitised for you and left outside Shopmobility for your collection. If using your vehicle, please park in one of the Shopmobility bays, as normal.
Staff will only be onsite to support bookings made in advance.
It is essential customers return within the time agreed so we can prepare equipment for the next customer.
Ipswich Shopmobility does not open in times of bad weather. Customers will be contacted if we need to cancel bookings.
Yes please, this is in accordance with recent Government guidance and Shopping Centre rules.
You will be able to book up to two slots per week
Please contact us as soon as possible so that we can check the diary for other bookings
Family and friends should remain outside Shopmobility
On your first visit to the Shopmobility Centre you will be asked to produce some identification showing your name and address, to enable the completion of a simple registration card for insurance purposes. Once you have been issued with a membership card, you will need to present it each time you visit in order to obtain equipment.
A member of the Shopmobility volunteer team will show you and any companions how the wheelchair or scooter works and when you are confident that you can handle it - away you go!
At the end of your visit you need to return the chair or scooter to base. Please note we only lend equipment on a daily basis and are not able to provide equipment for overnight hire.
There is no charge for using Shopmobility equipment but the scheme does need all the help it can get to meet running and repair costs, so donations are always welcome.
Eleven designated parking spaces are reserved for Shopmobility users in the Buttermarket car park adjacent to the Shopmobility Centre. Shopmobility users who park their vehicles in these designated spaces when using Shopmobility equipment are entitled to two hours free parking.
Ipswich Shopmobility often needs volunteers. Volunteering is a great way to develop your potential, gain work experience and boost your CV while making a big difference to lives of mobility-impaired people.
Visit the Volunteer with Ipswich Shopmobility page for more information.
The RADAR National Key Scheme (NKS) provides special keys to access locked disabled toilets across the UK.
In Ipswich, RADAR keys are available to buy online. They cost £3.50.
Keys can be collected from Shopmobility at the Buttermarket Shopping Centre.
To buy a key:
Please note that we are unable to take cash payments.
Ipswich Shopmobility,
Buttermarket Shopping Centre,
Lower Ground Level,
St Stephens Lane,
Ipswich, IP1 1DT
01473 222225
