When Julie Mogey saw first hand how Newlife Foundation helps local children she decided to do something to support the charity.
Julie works at Greenhall Nursery in Stafford, a specialist school which accepts children aged from two to five years with physical disabilities and which aims to give children a better start in life.
When Newlife Foundation, which helps disabled and terminally ill children throughout the UK and has its HQ in Cannock, helped one of the children at the nursery, Julie vowed to help by fundraising for the charity.
So Julie undertook the Stafford half marathon – her first attempt – and completed it in an impressive 2 hours 14 minutes, raising over £920 for the charity. Julie said: “I decided to run the half marathon in aid of Newlife which helps and supports our children offering equipment that should be readily available for our children and families.
“We have children in our nursery that have gone through so much in their lives already. Through the years I have seen many children come to Greenhall and have been a part of the team that gives each child and their family the hope and support that is needed. Newlife plays an important part in providing essential equipment for families that they would otherwise struggle to obtain.
“Any of our parents can contact Newlife either for advice or to discuss equipment that is needed or our team at Greenhall can do this on the parents’ behalf.”
Julie was inspired by Amanda Harrison, from Stone, whose son James attends the nursery. James has a rare condition, Infantile Batten Syndrome. James has a wheelchair but is at an age now where his mum and dad struggle to lift him and therefore was in urgent need of a stair climber to enable him to go upstairs safely.
Newlife provided the equipment which now enables James to be moved safely upstairs and down, and means he is no longer restricted to one room in the family home.
James’s mum Amanda said: “We were really struggling to lift James as he got bigger, especially up and down the stairs.”
After contacting Newlife, Amanda said: “The process was quick and easy; I can’t tell you how it felt to finally have someone listen to us and help us. Newlife also provided us with a special seat for James as he had outgrown his old chair. Having the new equipment has made a huge impact on our family life. We are no longer struggling to lift a heavy boy and James is comfortable, safe and happy. I really can’t thank them enough.”
Newlife has awarded £716,910 to fund 470 equipment grants for children in Staffordshire. In the last year alone, it has awarded grants of £86,420 to fund equipment for 52 Staffordshire children.
Nora Smith, head of fundraising at Newlife, thanked Julie for her hard work and generous help on behalf of the charity, adding: “We are always looking for local heroes to help us raise money as there has been such a huge increase in demand for our services, particularly in the current economic climate.”
If any individual or organisation wants to help they can contact the community fundraising team who can offer support and guidance on freephone 0800 988 4640.
If you think you can help, the Newlife Community Fundraising Team can be contacted on freephone 0800 988 4640. Any individual or organisation thinking of running a fundraising event is asked to contact the team, who can offer support and guidance.
Newlife is currently working with a total of five families in Staffordshire, with equipment needs totalling over £8,900. But the charity is experiencing hugely increased demands on its resources; calls to the Newlife Nurse Helpline – 0800 902 0095 – have shot up and there are thousands more hits on the charity’s website https://newlifecharity.co.uk
Julie Mogey, of Greenhall Nursery, hands over a cheque for £920.63 to Keleigh Tomlinson, of Newlife Foundation, the charity which helps disabled and terminally ill children.
Web: https://newlifecharity.co.uk Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/newlifecharity Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/newlifefoundation YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/NewlifeFoundation
