There are one million disabled children in the UK and every day they are let down and failed by a system that can’t provide for them! Newlife, the Charity for Disabled Children is trying to raise money so it can provide 17 children in Essex with the specialist equipment they urgently need.
Newlife needs to raise over £10,000 to help children like four-year-old Dominic who has Autism and is virtually housebound because he doesn’t have the right kind of specialist buggy to keep him safe. The buggy he needs costs £630 and without it, Dominic has to stay at home because the outside world is too overwhelming for him to cope with.
As the largest charitable provider of essential disability equipment in the UK, Newlife receives hundreds of calls each week from families who have been refused the help they need by their local health services. Sadly, without the support of the local community, the charity is unable to fund every application it receives.
Consultant nurse at Newlife, Karen Dobson, said: “One of the most heart-breaking parts of my job is when we have to say no to a child and family who are in desperate need of help because we simply don’t have the funds available.
“I know it’s hard to believe but the reality is that many of these children have already been refused essential equipment by their local health services. That is why they have turned to us, but unfortunately we haven’t got the funds to help them right now.”
Newlife’s Head of Charity Operations, Stephen Morgan, said: “Across the UK, disabled and terminally ill children suffer avoidable pain and worsening conditions when they can’t get the right equipment at the right time – no child should have to endure this.
“We have been able to help some of the county’s most desperate children, like 10-year-old Jack Mayer from White Notley. The only chair he had left him crying in pain, so we were able to provide him with a specialist seat so that he could have somewhere comfortable to sit. But we still need help from the local community to raise the funds needed to help other disabled and terminally ill children in Essex – we can’t do it without your help. Every penny you give will genuinely be used to save and change young lives in your county.”
You can make a donation by visiting the website www.newlifecharity.co.uk/essex or by calling the Newlife fundraising team on 0800 988 4640. 100% of money raised will be used to help a child in need in your county.
