Who we help?
Past members who have enjoyed Steps equipment have been diagnosed with: angelmans syndrome, autism, blindness, cerebral palsy, cognitive delay, deafness, developmental delay, downs syndrome, dyspraxia, epilepsy, fine or gross motor skills, hyper-mobility, microcephaly and rhetts syndrome. The actual condition is not important to us - we just concentrate on how we can help each & every child.
Steps' Frequently Asked Questions and Terms & Conditions of Membership
Advice Notice
If you are paying by Direct Debit we will send you an Advance Notice of Direct Debit Collection confirming the amount to be debited from your account and on what date. With an Organisation Membership we are happy to invoice and can accept payment by cheque or BACS.
Breakages / Cleanliness
All of the toys and switches are tested prior to dispatch and they are checked upon return. We ask respectfully that the toy is returned in the same clean and tidy condition as it was received. Steps strongly recommends that before returning toys and/or switches to us, that they are inspected for breakages. There is also no charge for any toy or switch that has an electronic fault and stops working, unless the toy or switch has been tampered with. We do realise that toys/switches will get damaged during play occasionally, but we have to ask you to share the cost of replacing them. A fixed charge of £30 per damaged item will help us with these costs.
Changes
From time to time we might need to change, modify, add, or remove portions or withdraw fully the Membership Scheme and services Steps provides – we will do our very best to make sure this never happens. Please check our website www.stepscharity.org from time to time as any changes to, or modifications of these terms will be posted on it. Your use of Steps’ services following the postage of changes constitutes your acceptance of the changes.
Increase in Membership Fees
Steps’ reserves the right to increase the membership fees at any time. We would let you know of course, well in advance. All fees and charges are non-refundable except for any trial periods of one month at the beginning of the membership period.
Length of loan
The loan period will depend on the type of membership package selected by you. If you have selected the Premium subscription, please feel free to send the toy and switch back and to request another toy / switch straightaway. If on a Standard membership your loan period is up to 4 months or you may return after 3 months. If you are on an Organisation or Hospice Membership, the loan period will be 6 months for each despatch or quarterly if you attend in person. The Membership Support Fund offers a 3-4 month exchange and terms equal to the Standard Membership. With any membership, if the switch is a good match for your child; you may keep the switch throughout the membership.
Limitation of Liability
The Covered Party (Steps) shall not be liable for any loss, injury, claim or damage in any way resulting from your use of Steps’ equipment and Membership Scheme. Furthermore, Steps shall not be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages of any kind whatsoever (including, without limitation, solicitors fees) in any way due to, resulting from or arising in connection with Steps’ Membership Scheme, materials, equipment, or the failure of any Covered Party to perform its obligations, regardless of any negligence of any Covered Party (The Covered Party means the provider of the Membership Scheme, its officers, directors, employees).
Membership Subscription
This will depend on the membership option you have chosen. Premium Individual is £15.00 per month with Standard Individual at £7.50 per month. The charges represent 60% of the total cost of offering the membership and Steps fundraises to cover the remainder. For Families there is a discount for 2 or more children (Premium is £10.00 per month and Standard is £5.00 per month). Organisational Membership starts at £365 per year, whilst Hospices are supported by our Membership Support Fund. This offers annual free memberships for hospices and for individuals who cannot afford to contribute and is supported in full by Steps fundraising. Please see our literature or the website for full details of the options.
Ownership
Steps retains ownership of its equipment and we request that: reasonable care of the equipment is taken, the toys and switches are not marked, defaced or tampered with, Steps’ equipment is not loaned to a third party, hired out to a third party and that the designated individual has free and unrestricted access to the equipment loaned to the individual by Steps. We reserve the right to request immediate return of all of Steps equipment if we are dissatisfied that any of the above requests are not being complied with.
Payment of Membership Subscription
By agreeing to pay a small subscription each month you are keeping your service afloat. The Premium and Standard subscriptions are subsidized and we continue to fundraise to cover the full costs. We also continue to fundraise to run the Membership Support Fund for those that cannot afford to contribute and to buy and adapt toys, ensuring that Steps remains one of the largest adapted toy and switch libraries in the country. To help keep costs down, we ask you to pay the subscription by Direct Debit. Please contact us for other options if this is not suitable.
Postage/Packaging
We will continue to cover the cost of the postage, including the return postage. Please ensure that you keep the return postage label somewhere safe and handy. If insufficient postage is put on the returning equipment, this charge will be invoiced to the Member. If you can retain the packaging for the return journey, we would be obliged, as sending the toy back in a Jiffy bag has resulted in the destruction of the toy in the postal system. If this happens we will have to ask you to bear 50% of the replacement costs. Individuals who are registered as blind or partially sighted are sent Freepost labels marked as Articles For The Blind.
Termination of Membership
Either of us may give notification of termination of the agreement without cause, by giving the other party not less than one months notice. We can only guarantee a Free Membership for one year at a time. The agreement is only terminated between us when we have received all of the equipment on loan from Steps to the Member.
The Terms of Membership are listed on our New Membership Guide, Parent and Carers Information Guide, the reverse of our application forms and on our website. Please note the website will always have the latest version. June 2011
