Nottinghamshire’s Lord Lieutenant Sir John Peace is supporting a local initiative to fund more specialist equipment for children with disabilities or terminal illness in the county.
Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children helps dozens of families in Nottinghamshire, and Sir John – the Queen’s official representative in the county – is backing the charity’s drive to ensure more local babies, children and young people get the equipment support they need, when they really need it.
He said: “Newlife is launching a county appeal to raise funds for specialist equipment which is based on the specifications defined by local clinical care professionals including GPs, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. This equipment will help children in the county, and the need in Nottinghamshire is particularly high. If you feel you are able to support this very worthwhile appeal I know that your contribution will be gratefully received.”
Right now, there are 17 children with disabilities or terminal illness in Nottinghamshire who need your help to get the specialist equipment that will really change their lives. That’s why leading UK children’s disability charity Newlife Foundation is launching the Newlife Nottinghamshire Fund – www.newlifecharity.co.uk/nottinghamshire. It is an opportunity for local people to help local disabled children and every penny donated or fundraised in Nottinghamshire is guaranteed to support vulnerable families in the county.
Special disability equipment including wheelchairs, walkers, beds, seating and communication aids can help give children independence, keep them safe, relieve pain and overcome challenges. For instance, you could help a child take their first steps or kick a football with their friends. . . .
Together we can really change the lives of children with disabilities or terminal illness – supporting them to experience and enjoy life and all that we take for granted.
Newlife has already helped 258 children in Nottinghamshire just like Kyle (see story below) through equipment grants and loans totalling more than £280,000, so we know there is a very real need for a specific county fund. In this way we aim to help more children, more quickly.
Statutory services in Nottinghamshire 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 Nottinghamshire who have helped Newlife help local children in real need.
The Newlife Nottinghamshire Fund will support equipment provision for under-19s facing any significant disability, whether acquired through birth defect, prematurity, accident or illness.
Vitally, the Newlife Nottinghamshire Fund website – www.newlifecharity.co.uk/nottinghamshire – will enable local people to find out who needs help in their county right now and highlight the support the charity gives vulnerable families. It includes contact details for the Newlife County Liaison Team – tel no 01543 431 444 or email local@newlifecharity.co.uk – and shows specific ways people can help support local disabled children and their families.
That might involve taking part in a local sporting challenge, give you information on how to organise a fundraising event – or even ask you to donate £5 today! Volunteers are also needed to help raise awareness of what we do and how we do it.
We hope that by launching the Newlife Nottinghamshire Fund, children with disabilities and terminal illness in the county won’t have to go without the equipment they need for everyday life.
Newlife Foundation supports families in Nottinghamshire through a range of free services:
Nurse-staffed helpline
Equipment grants
Emergency equipment loans
Sensory and developmental toy ‘pod’ loans.
SPECIALIST SEATING MEANS KYLE CAN RELAX WITH HIS FAMILY ONCE MORE
A simple seat which means Kyle Reesby can relax in comfort has made a huge difference to the 11-year-old and his and his family as they can spend they type of quality time together we all take for granted.
The family from Nottingham were first provided with specialist seating by Newlife in 2009, as his only options for relaxing were an uncomfortable upright functional seat provided by statutory services, or his bed, which restricted quality time with his family.
However, after outgrowing the equipment he faced the same difficulties once more.
Kyle has a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy with West Syndrome, which means he has seizures (controlled with medication) and he is unable to sit or weight bear without specialist equipment. He is a full time wheelchair user, is tube fed and dependent on his carers for all aspects of daily life. He has no speech, using facial expressions and vocalising, but most of his needs are anticipated by his family.
“After he outgrew the old seating from Newlife we were without it for over a year and we really missed it,” said Kyle’s mum Debbie.
“We are only allowed to have one chair from Statutory Services, which is the functional chair we used for feeding Kyle, before he became tube fed, and it’s also used for art projects and other activities. He also needs time with the family so we can relax and spend quality time together, but without the specialist seating we had to either have him on the floor or on our knees. However, at 11 he’s too big to go on our knees now and the only one who can lift him on and off the floor is my husband.”
She added: “Everyone else has a comfortable seat they can relax in – it shouldn’t be any different for Kyle, we want him to have the same quality of life everyone else has.
“The chair is making a massive difference to us all. It’s the things you take for granted that you miss when you can’t do them, but we have Kyle with us again in the lounge now and some quality of life again.”
Pictured: Kyle Reesby
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