Charity is supporting family employed by TRAD UK with recent Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy diagnosis.
In October last year, Thomas Ackers was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). He was two and a half years old. Thomas’ parents, Liam and Danielle, both work for TRAD UK’s Stockport depot – Liam is Assistant Manager and Danielle works in the administration department. They shared Thomas’ diagnosis with the company, which has decided to make Duchenne UK – the UK’s leading DMD charity– its charity for 2024-25.
“DMD is a genetic disorder that causes muscle weakness and wasting,” says the Duchenne UK website. It is the most common and severe form of muscular dystrophy.
It is caused by a fault, known as a mutation, on the dystrophin gene. Dystrophin is a protein that protects muscles; without it, muscles are easily damaged, and their strength and function is weakened. It eventually affects all the muscles in the body, including the heart and lungs. DMD almost always affects boys. It is typically diagnosed in childhood between the age of three and six.
“Thomas is a fantastic, happy little boy, who is progressing day by day,” says Danielle. “He was born breech and so we knew we needed to keep an eye on him because of potential hip dysplasia. He was also late to crawl or pull himself up to stand, so we spoke to our health professionals about our concerns and Thomas was referred for a genetic test. This led to his DMD diagnosis, which has been a steep learning curve for all of us.”
“Funding, research and awareness into DMD and its treatments have made huge strides in recent years,” adds Liam.
“We’re really hopeful that continued funding and research will result in more drugs and clinical trials, and eventually a cure for boys like Thomas with this condition.”
Thomas may have been a late developer, but he’s up and walking now, enjoying life as he heads for his third birthday in May. “Thomas absolutely loves Disney films and dances to all the music,” says Danielle. “We want to support research into DMD so that Thomas and all children like him can keep dancing for as many years as possible!”
Colin Dobson, Managing Director at TRAD UK said: “I can’t think of a better cause for our next charity fundraising period. We always say that TRAD is a family, and Liam and Danielle are a key part of our Stockport business. TRAD supports its people through good times and bad, and we’re hoping to raise a considerable amount of money for Duchenne UK this year, to help fund the treatment innovations that will help children like Thomas throughout their lives.”
If you would like to help TRAD UK in raising funds for Duchenne UK please visit our just giving page here. Thank you from everyone at TRAD UK for your contribution.
The NASC is recognised as the national trade body for access and scaffolding in the UK, producing a wide range of industry guidance for scaffolding contractors, their operatives and their clients. Members of the NASC are strictly regulated to ensure a continuous high standard of scaffolding practice.
The Scaffolding Association is the largest trade organisation in the UK scaffolding and access sector, campaigning to raise standards of safety, quality and workforce skills.
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents – actively involved in the promotion of safety and the prevention of accidents in all areas, demonstrating our commitment to safety and providing us with operational guidelines.
ISO 9001 is the internationally recognized Quality Management System (QMS) standard that can benefit any size of organization and is designed to be a powerful business improvement tool.
TRAD UK have been audited by BSi and are accredited to ISO 9001:2015.
POLICY STATEMENT
TRAD UK are established market leaders in the scaffolding hire and sales / fall prevention solutions market sector. The company has developed plans for continued organic growth for increasing market share and a commitment to continually improve the service we provide to our loyal customers. This will be achieved by our fully trained and professional teams supplying the highest quality products and delivering the highest quality service.
TRAD UK recognises the importance of the quality of our products, operations and service to achieving our company quality objectives. Our quality objectives have been planned and established with quantified, measurable goals that drive improvement and focus on maintaining and improving customer satisfaction. TRAD UK’s Senior Management have provided the resources and funds necessary to implement this policy and to achieve its quality objectives. It is, therefore, our policy to operate a Quality Management System that fully complies with the requirements of ISO9001:2015. This policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure its relevance to the strategic direction of the organisation.
The TRAD UK Top Management Team have shown commitment to satisfying all applicable requirements and compliance with customer, regulatory and statutory requirements, with industry codes of practice and relevant product standards (BS and EN). We also commit to continually improve our Quality Management System for sustained customer satisfaction and to continually meet the requirements of all interested parties.
This policy will be communicated to all employees and organisations working for and on behalf of TRAD UK and will be made available to all interested parties upon request.
The Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) is a voluntary accreditation scheme for fleet operators which aims to raise the level of quality within fleet operations, and to demonstrate which operators are achieving exemplary levels of best practice in safety, efficiency, and environmental protection.
CHAS is established as the market leader for health and safety pre-qualification in the UK. It is available to suppliers (those who provide goods and services) and to organisations (buyers) looking for suitably competent suppliers.
Constructionline is the UK’s largest Government-owned register of contractors and consultants for the construction industry. Constructionline standards are high, all suppliers are pre-qualified to the official Government pre-qualified standard.
BuildingConfidence is recognised as the standard for supplier excellence within the industry. Major contractors are using the service to evaluate their supply chains, drive up performance and forge longer lasting relationships with key suppliers.
BM TRADA membership and subsequent annual Scaffold Board grading accreditation allows TRAD to inspect the quality of their scaffold boards both new and in service. This ensures that the quality of their scaffold boards are always measured and comply with the current BS2482 – 2009 standard.
Alcumus is trusted by the world’s most respected organisations to help them create better, more sustainable workplaces.
The Alcumus SafeContractor scheme is a market-leading health & safety accreditation system, helping contractors and organisations become healthier and safer, and gaining SafeContractor status demonstrates an organisation’s compliance with increasingly stringent legislation.
This SafeContractor certificate has been awarded for the following services…
Work Categories:
Fall Protection Safety Systems: Fall Protection Safety Systems
Supplier & Service Provider: Access Equipment Hire Provider
Industry Roles:
Construction Contractor, Supplier
Category Related Activities:
Ladders / Step Ladders, Selection & Control of Subcontractors, Working at Height
