Twenty children and young people with disabilities and their families will be able to access potentially life-changing specialist equipment thanks to a £30,000 grant from Staffordshire Freemasons to Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children.

Newlife is the largest charity provider of specialist equipment for children with disabilities or terminal illness across the UK, supporting families to get the specialist equipment they need such as wheelchairs, specialist beds, specialist car seats, walking and standing frames and communication aids.

As well as an Equipment Grant Service the charity also provides an Emergency Equipment Loan service, a Play Therapy Pod service which provides specialist sensory toys, and a Nurse-led Helpline to provide support to families on a range of subjects, including information about benefits the family may be entitled to or condition specific information support. Children across the UK can be supported by Newlife up to their 19th birthday and each child can be helped multiple times.

The £30,000 grant from the Staffordshire Freemasons will support the Newlife’s equipment grants service, which provides specialist equipment for children and young people which is often not available on the NHS and that the family would not be able to afford otherwise. Each application is supported by a medical professional and the equipment can be used to help keep a child safe, reduce pain, aid their development or mobility or help them achieve their full potential in life.

The grant from Staffordshire Freemasons comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is funded by Freemasons, their families and friends, from across England and Wales.

Selwyn Burton from Staffordshire Freemasons said: “I’m very pleased we’ve been able to help Newlife with their hugely important work. Without Newlife, thousands of disabled children would be living in pain, unable to do the things that we all take for granted and denied the opportunity to reach their potential.”

Sarah Sylvester, Newlife’ Head of Philanthropy, said: “We’re very grateful to Staffordshire Freemasons for their generous grant which will allow us to provide specialist equipment to 20 children and their families. Whether it’s a wheelchair or a car seat to help them get around, a communication aid or some other vital piece of equipment, our work makes a real difference to disabled children’s quality of life.”