Johanna Smith - How the Sunshine Fund Has Helped Our Family

Following on from our previous post about the amazing support we've received from ITPS, Johanna Smith shares her story about her son, Isaac, and what the Sunshine Fund has meant to her family.

The Sunshine Fund have been part of our lives since my son Isaac (pictured with his hippocampe) was 3 years old and we made our first grant application for a specially adapted trike. He’s 8 years old now and last year we were awarded our second Sunshine Fund grant to purchase a Hippocampe, all-terrain wheelchair.

Isaac had a rocky start to life. He was born 10 weeks prematurely and as a result of this he has complex cerebral palsy and a hearing impairment. Despite his severe physical disabilities he has got a real lust for life, he has lots of friends and enjoys outdoor activities. The Hippocampe has made it possible for the family to go to the beach, go camping, caving and on country walks. These are all things that would have been very difficult with a standard wheelchair and would have become virtually impossible as Isaac and his wheelchair get heavier and bigger.

The family really noticed the difference this winter when there was lots of snow. Before when there was thick snow or ice Isaac hardly left the house except to go to school. This year he was able to use the Metro to get to an important hospital appointment that he would otherwise have missed because our car was snowed in. He was able to go out and about in the snow and enjoyed throwing snowballs and building snowmen.

Johanna continued “It has made a huge difference to us as a family and stopped Isaac from being isolated through the bad weather. More importantly the Sunshine Fund grant has supported us to live the life that suits us as a family. We found the process of applying for the grant to be very straightforward and the staff are really friendly and helpful.

I am so very grateful to organisations such as ITPS for their tremendous support in helping my Son and others like him. I would like to encourage more businesses and individuals to support the Sunshine Fund financially. It’s a vital local charity that makes a massive difference to disabled children and their families’ lives.

Families want their children to get the most out of life but it can be a real struggle to get the equipment they need to achieve this. It’s great to know the Sunshine Fund is there to help when you really need it most, I don’t know what we’d have done without it.”

There are lots of ways individuals, companies, schools and other groups can support the Sunshine Fund. If you would like to find out more about the Evening Chronicle Sunshine Fund and how you can make a difference to the lives of disabled children in the North East please email carlene.golightly@ncjmedia.co.uk or call Carlene on 07794938609.