A special portable bed will mean Chorley girl Hannah and her family can go on holiday and visit friends. They will no longer be prisoners in their own home.

Hannah Marshall-Smith has been diagnosed with CDKL5 Variant Rett syndrome, which has resulted in severe physical and learning difficulties and epilepsy. If Hannah were to sleep on a standard bed the 11-year-old would be at risk of injury. As a toddler she was able to sleep on a bare mattress at friends houses but that is no longer safe.

“Having safe sides for Hannah would change our lives hugely as a family,” said mum Cheryl Marshall. “We will now be able to go on a family break in a caravan or hotel for the first time knowing Hannah can sleep without risk or injury through a seizure or entrapment.

“It would also mean that Hannah would be able to sleep over at her dad’s house as at present she only has safe sleeping facilities at home. We are extremely thankful to everyone who supports Newlife.”

The equipment that Hannah needs will cost £1,055 and the family have turned to Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children for help.

Newlife is the largest charity provider of specialist equipment for children with disabilities and terminal illness in the UK and has helped 343 children in Lancashire at a cost of more than £449,000.

However, right now, Hannah’s family is just one of 36 families in Lancashire working with Newlife Foundation to secure vital equipment to help improve daily life. That’s why Newlife Foundation has recently launched the Newlife Lancashire Fund – www.newlifecharity.co.uk/lancashire. It is an opportunity for local people to help local disabled children and every penny donated or fundraised in Lancashire is guaranteed to support families in the county.

Further information about the Newlife Lancashire Fund – and how to specifically donate or fundraise to support Hannah – can be found by going to www.newlifecharity.co.uk/lancashire or by emailing local@newlifecharity.co.uk. Telephone donations can be made by calling 01543 462 777.

Together we can really change the lives of children with disabilities and terminal illness – supporting them to experience and enjoy life and all that we take for granted.

Statutory services in Lancashire often have a responsibility to make equipment provision – but when help is declined, Newlife steps in. The charity challenges many such decisions and has an impressive success rate. However, where we are unable to overturn these decisions, we provide the equipment ourselves through our range of grant and loan services. We do this with the support of front-line health professionals across Lancashire who have helped Newlife help local children in real need.

The Newlife Lancashire Fund supports equipment provision for under-19s facing any significant disability, whether acquired through birth defect, prematurity, accident or illness.

Pictured: Hannah Marshall-Smith

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