An Islington comedy night featuring top British comedian Adam Bloom has raised £1,885 to help support disabled and terminally ill children in London.
Adam headlined the ‘Chuckles for Charity’ bill at the Arc in Angel on Tuesday 26 February, an event organised by local comedy fans David Benaim and Aryeh Citron.
David and Aryeh said: “When we set out to organise this we envisaged there being 60 to 80 attendees, so we are pleased that we managed to sell out all 150 tickets for the event, to maximise funds for the charity whilst showing the audience a fantastic time.”
The show – which also featured top London comedy acts Mae Martin, Joe Bor, Bryan Lacey and Prince Abdi – was a sell-out, with all proceeds donated to leading UK children’s disability charity Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children.
The bulk of the money – £1,226 – will pay for a specialist cotbed for an 11-year-old Southwark boy who has been diagnosed with autism, learning disabilities and behavioural problems.
The remaining £659 will fund two Kit Boxes of sensory toys and development aids for children with specialist needs. Kit Boxes – each containing between £300 and £400 of condition-specific equipment – are loaned out to families for three months at a time, delivered directly to their homes.
Newlife Lead Nurse Karen Dobson said: “Play is important to all children, but for those with a disability the opportunity to access a variety of interesting and varied aids may not be a reality. Some of this equipment – which helps with children’s learning programmes and development of motor skills – is around £200 for a single item, which puts it beyond the financial reach of many of the families we support. The Newlife Kit Box scheme was launched to help alleviate this financial burden and to enable children to trial equipment.”
In addition to its Kit Box service, Newlife has funded more than £8.2million of essential specialist equipment for children across the UK. In London alone, the charity has provided 348 items of equipment – ranging from wheelchairs and specialist beds to portable hoists and communication aids – at a cost of £542,527.
All Newlife services, which are free of charge, can be accessed by contacting the Nurse Helpline on 0800 902 0095 or by emailing nurses@newlifecharity.co.uk.
Web: https://newlifecharity.co.uk Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/newlifecharity Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/newlifefoundation YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/NewlifeFoundation
