Festive fancy dress fun at the BP Connect Norton Canes service station on the M6 toll road will help bring Christmas joy to disabled children in Staffordshire.

Sixteen members of staff will be getting into the festive spirit to fundraise for Cannock-based national charity Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children. Newlife is currently working with the families of seven disabled and terminally ill children in Staffordshire, with equipment needs totalling £12,309. Nationally, the Newlife figure is 144 children needing £330,000 of disability aids.

A series of fundraising events at the service station has already raised £1,065 for Newlife, helping to buy a stair climber for a local boy.

Norton Canes service station deputy manager Julie James said: “From December 21 to Christmas Day we will be running around the forecourt with collecting buckets, doing our best to make clowns of ourselves – but all in a very serious cause. We have some very generous customers who have already supported us throughout the year. With their help we are doing our bit to ensure local children get the vital equipment they need.”

Newlife Foundation recently announced it had hit the £10million landmark for funding of specialist equipment for disabled and terminally ill children around the UK, since 2005. This includes 518 Equipment Grants totalling £784,773 in Staffordshire, for items such as wheelchairs and walkers for mobility, specialist beds to keep children safe at night and communication aids so they can tell their parents they love them.

Web: https://newlifecharity.co.uk Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/newlifecharity Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/newlifefoundation YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/NewlifeFoundation