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 44 children in London with the specialist equipment they urgently need.

Newlife has been able to help some of the most desperate children who turn to it for help – like four-year-old Teddy who is blind, has Spina Bifida and a life limiting genetic condition. Teddy needed a wheelchair that he could move himself.  He had outgrown the one provided by his local health services and they refused to fund a replacement so he was forced to borrow one from his playgroup.

Teddy’s mum, Annie, said: “I have been trying to get Teddy a new wheelchair from statutory services for over a year now – in one month I left 33 messages that went unreturned. I know that services are cut to the bone but there seems to be a real lack of awareness and sympathy – my son is blind and paralysed from the waist down – he has the middle part of his brain missing – how disabled does he have to be before he is noticed.”

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. Every penny you donate to Newlife 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/greaterlondon  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.