Fabulous fundraisers across the Oxted area have responded to a national charity’s appeal for help to provide an all-terrain buggy for a local disabled boy.
Individual donors have already contributed £225 – and now Titsey and District Rotary Club members are planning two days of fundraising early next month. Their response follows a front page article featured in the January 22 edition of the Oxted County Border News.
Little Henry Cummins, from Oxted, is almost three years old. He has Cerebral Palsy and Hydrocephalus which means he is not able to get around independently. He loves the great outdoors, but the standard wheelchair supplied by local statutory services is not manoeuvrable over anything other than flat surfaces. So the beautiful Surrey countryside and south coast beaches are out of bounds to Henry.
Mum Caroline says: “Henry has sensory processing difficulties and loves to be mobile; getting out and about is always good for him. We are an outdoor-loving family, and a specialist all-terrain buggy would make life so much easier and give us the opportunity to get Henry out into the countryside and on to the beach more often.”
This equipment will cost £1,795, which prompted the family to turn to leading UK children’s disability charity Newlife Foundation for help. Newlife has funded 165 Equipment Grants for children in Surrey, at a cost of £276,302.
Titsey and District Rotary Club Vice President Howard Belcham said: “Our group supports the local community through a calendar of fundraising events throughout the year, but when we saw the newspaper article about Henry we knew we needed to act swiftly. Our members will be collecting at the Oxted Morrisons store and in Station Road East, outside Boots, on Thursday and Friday, February 6 and 7. All monies collected will be passed on to Newlife Foundation to help fund the buggy that Henry needs so he can enjoy our beautiful Surrey countryside.”
He added: “We welcome new members and anyone interested in finding out more about Titsey and District Rotary Club can go to our website – www.titsey.org.uk – or call our Secretary, Brian LeMasurier, on 01883 370432.”
Newlife Foundation Fundraising Manager Nora Smith said: “Our thanks to Oxted County Border News for helping us to raise awareness of the ongoing need for essential disability equipment among children in Surrey. The response so far has been fantastic – and the generous support of Titsey and District Rotary Club will help us move closer to the total needed.”
If you would like to help raise money to fund a specialist buggy for Henry, the Newlife Community Fundraising Team can be contacted on freephone 0800 988 4640. Any individual or organisation thinking of running a fundraising event is asked to contact the team, who can offer support and guidance. Alternatively, go to: www.justgiving.com/HenryCummins and donate (Gift Aid applies).
Any money raised surplus to Henry’s requirements will be used to fund equipment for other local children.
Newlife Foundation is currently working with five families in Surrey, with equipment needs totalling £9,957. This surge in demand for services has prompted the charity to call for ‘local heroes’ to come forward to fundraise or donate towards the cost of specialist help for children in their county.
Newlife CEO Sheila Brown, OBE, said: “Newlife guarantees that 100 per cent of any gift or donation will go directly to provide equipment for disabled and terminally ill children – and donors can ring-fence their money to a specific county.”
Pictured: Henry Cummins.
Web: https://newlifecharity.co.uk Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/newlifecharity Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/newlifefoundation YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/NewlifeFoundation
