Fabulous fundraiser nine-year-old Kerenza Willis from Deanshanger has tackled a sponsored ten-mile walk to help local disabled twins get the specialist equipment they need so they can sit in comfort.
Kerenza is a member of Holy Trinity Church in Deanshanger, where the congregation is helping Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children in its work to support local under-19s with disabilities and terminal illness.
Led by Elly Hance and Rosemary Skinner, the children of the church have already raised £3,728, and have helped fund a portable specialist bed for eight-year-old Chloe Gordon from Northampton, who has Cerebral Palsy and learning disabilities.
Now, they are focusing their fundraising attentions on 11-year-old Great Missenden twins Emerson and Marcia Lee, who have Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy.
Kerenza, a pupil at Deanshanger Primary School, tackled the ten-mile trek along the Grand Union Canal in Milton Keynes earlier this month (March 21) with her dad, raising £70 towards the specialist seating.
Proud dad James said: “Kerenza is a very determined girl. She spent weeks organising the walk and the sponsorship all by herself, and she really seemed to enjoy it.”
Kerenza added: “I wanted to give myself a challenge and help other children who aren’t as lucky as I am.”
Marcia and Emerson’s family turned to Newlife Foundation – the UK’s largest charity funder of children’s specialist disability equipment – as the chairs the twins need cost £2,345 each and there is no local statutory funding available.
The twins’ mum Jane Lee said: “They are up for 16 hours a day and are in the same position for long periods of time. The chairs would be somewhere for them to chill out, where they could relax – like we do on the sofa.”
Newlife Foundation Head of Community Fundraising Nora Smith said: “All the children at Holy Trinity Church have been amazing in their continued support for Newlife. Kerenza has – quite literally – gone the extra mile to help us give the twins the seating support they so desperately need. A certificate celebrating her commitment is on its way to her.”
Pictured: Kerenza Willis
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