Beneficiaries

Start of a new journey for little Jessica

THREE-year-old Jessica Finley was given a grant of £624 to buy a Theraplay Imp Trike.

Jessica has Cerebral Palsy. Just a toddler, she is able to roll but cannot crawl or walk and needs support while sitting. But, as a determined and sociable little girl, she was desperate to gain some freedom and yearned for something that would help her to get out and about.

Her mum, Beverly and dad Michael applied to the Sunshine Fund for a trike to help Jessica gain some of the independence she craved.

Beverly said: “She was getting to the stage where she wanted to do the same things as other children and she couldn’t understand why she couldn’t.

“Mentally she wants to do things but physically she can’t always do them. We thought the trike would be helpful to get her involved with things a bit more.”

Beverly said the trike had been a huge help to Jessica and her parents, who care for her most of the time at home.

She said: “She’s dead sociable and she thinks it’s great because she can pedal it along and when she’s on it she can move about independently.

“She goes to a mainstream nursery and she can use the trike there, meaning she can play out with the other children. It’s lovely.

“The Sunshine Fund has a good reputation for helping out a lot of people. With the price of these things it’s not something we could have afforded ourselves, so it was great to get the money from the fund.”

Sunshine Fund manager Jo Harris said: “We were delighted to help Jessica’s family with the trike and are really pleased to hear how much she is benefiting from it.”

WHEELY GOOD FUN: Jessica Finley, three, on her new trike (Picture: TONY HALL)


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