Katelyn’s New Wheels Appeal a great success!
What an amazing community we have! A couple of weeks ago we set about fund raising for 10 year old Katelyn, who has cerebral palsy, to help with her dream of owning her own trike. Katelyn’s condition means that a specialised trike is required to meet her needs, but unfortunately we knew it would come at a financial cost. We sent letters to local charities and organisations, posted on Facebook, and appealed to the readers of the Newton News. The response was unbelievable and within a week the money was pouring in.
We attended the ROF 59 music festival where they kindly allowed us to stay with our collection buckets. Katelyn had a great afternoon, she especially liked the fact we were dared to do the ‘Drop Zone’ and ‘Zip wire’ for an extra £100 thanks to John Finley. Notorious Frankland prison inmate Charles Salvadore (Bronson) even heard of our appeal and donated his own wrist watch which was auctioned and raised a whopping £350. Katelyn also enjoyed afternoon tea with the local beautiful pageant ladies, she painted their nails raising a fabulous £55 and was crowned with a sparkling tiara and sash.
A Great big thanks to the Rotary Club, The big Club, The Pheonix Club, Darlington Charity cup, Honest John, Aycliffe Radio and GACAP.
The highlight of the week was a phone call from Scarlet Moffatt asking to donate money from the Angels trust, which I kindly accepted after I stopped hyperventilating! Also a massive thank you to everyone else who rang and pledged money, every penny counted. TomCat visited Katelyn at her school to measure her for her trike and Katelyn was able to try a sample trike. Her mam Kayla was amazed at the fact Katelyn who is unable to stand was actually able to move the pedals herself. This will be a massive asset to Katelyn’s life giving her more independence and a chance to enjoy her childhood.
This is not the end of the story though, the pledges were overwhelming and we kept going until we knew the final cost of Katelyn’s trike after fitting. Thanks to the generosity of the local community, the remaining funds has also allowed for a 2nd trike to be bought for 13 year old Aycliffe girl, Katie Henderson. Katie went to school with Katelyn, she also suffers with cerebral palsy and is unable to walk. Both girls met at ROF 59 where Katelyn handed over the cheque and had a good catch up with Katie. Both girl’s trikes are now on order and are hoping Santa will be able to deliver them on time. From all of Katelyn’s and Katie’s friends and family, we would just like to say a great big Thank You for making two girl’s dreams come true.
Joanne & Neville Jones
