ALEX'S STORY

Alex, is a 17-year-old Treloar College student, he joined the College in 2009 after leaving the Treloar School. Alex has cerebral palsy and cannot use a joystick to drive a wheelchair.
As a child, he was prescribed a basic wheelchair by his local NHS wheelchair centre. But, years on, this wheelchair did not meet the style and practical demands of an active young man. The national wheelchair charity Whizz-Kidz agreed to provide him with a powered wheelchair suitable for outdoor use.
The NHS made a specially moulded seat for his new wheelchair, the Treloar's assistive technology team worked in partnership with the NHS and managed to develop a brilliantly simple control tray that Alex could use to drive his wheelchair and - just as importantly - operate his computer.

The tray is cleverly designed to be unobtrusive and not highlight Alex's disability. Like many of the assistive technology team's designs they have strived to use simple reliable technology that can be easily maintained when he moves on from Treloar's. One of the biggest things for Alex is the independence that mobility gives him.
He now takes himself to classes, goes shopping and can even watch his much beloved football team, Fulham, at their home matches.
"Before he came to Treloar's he couldn't drive himself in his chair. The engineers adapted Alex's chair and gave him jellybean buttons because a joystick was too complicated. It's given him a whole new world." Alex's mother, Kathleen.
The Treloar Trust was founded by Sir William Purdie Treloar while he was Lord Mayor of the City of

London (1906). Now, over 100 years later, it supports Treloar School (for pupils 7-16) and Treloar College (further education for students 16+). Both School and College are specialists in providing education, care, therapy, medical support, independence training and opportunities for young people with physical disabilities from all over the UK. Alex is one of almost 300 students that each year Treloar's supports.
If you would like to find out more about Treloar's please contact our Fundraising team on01420 526 567 or email to fundraising@treloar.org.uk

Stephens Story

Every year national disability charity Motability helps around 5,000 people from our charitable grants fund by adapting their Motability cars, providing vehicles large enough to meet their mobility needs and by paying for lessons for young disabled people learn to drive. The 5,000 people we help are the most vulnerable and Motability really is a lifeline for them.

Take Stephen and his mum Alice. Stephen is ten years old and loves to watch trains, go bowling and to the cinema. Stephen has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and autism and uses a wheelchair. Living in rural Lincolnshire, with an unreliable car Alice struggled to get access to the support she needed for her son. As Stephen got older things became more difficult as his electric wheelchair would not fit in her car. Alice told us that Stephen regularly had epileptic seizures so it was vital that the family had a reliable and suitable car to get him to hospital quickly.

By the time Alice approached Motability for help she had already faced more challenges than any parent could imagine, but things soon changed for the better. Motability gave Alice and Stephen a charitable grant so she could get a car big enough to hold Stephen's electric wheelchair and fitted it with a hoist to easily get the wheelchair in and out without the need for heavy lifting. The new car has made a big impact on both Stephen and Alice's lives. Alice can enjoy peace of mind that they have a reliable car for emergencies and essential hospital appointments and Stephen benefits from trips out and doing the things he enjoys more often.

EMILY'S STORY

"Aged 17 I had achieved 13 GCSEs, was studying for A levels and hopeful of a University place. I woke up one morning unable to see, by the afternoon I was on a life support machine. Encephalitis and meningitis caused a severe brain injury that left me unable to speak or walk and completely dependent upon carers.
I was lucky enough to go to the Brain Injury centre, where specialist teams helped me to re-learn lost skills where possible, and to develop strategies to compensate for irrecoverable ones. I also resumed my education at the Centre, I took a geography A level and am going to Chichester College,where I will live independently on campus. I have my life back on track again."

QEF works with people living with physical and learning disabilities or acquired brain injuries to gain new skills and increase independence. Whether it's learning everyday life skills, rebuilding a life affected by brain injury, acquiring the skills to drive a specially adapted car or training for future employment QEF supports disabled people to achieve goals for life.
For more information visit www.qef.org.uk

ANNALISE'S STORY

Annalise McCabe has been given a new lease of life thanks to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Families Association (SSAFA) - Forces Help.
The 13-year-old was born with severe cerebral palsy and has been completely dependent on her father David since the death of her mother from breast cancer.
Annalise has complex physical needs and struggles to communicate. David, who served in the Royal Navy for eight years, first contacted SSAFA when he was told Annalise would need a special computer to help her communicate.
David said: "SSAFA not only came up with the funding for theDynavox communicatorthey also provided themoney for Annalise and I togo on our first mini-break.
"The communicator goesto school, to activities, to the shops with us. At home it can turn the lights onand off, change the TV channel. It has a stories and music section so she

can choose what to listen to. It also helps her to learn life skills."
Later, when David wanted to buy Annalise a specially-designed buggy that attaches to the back of a pushbike, SSAFA stepped in to fund the purchase.
He said: "Getting the buggy and the bike is going to open up a whole new world for us because a lot of our friends cycle. We can't cycle all the places that they go but there are lots of tracks that we can go down. We have already been cycling alongside a river and it was great fun."
For further information please visit www.ssafa.org.uk

ANTHONY'S STORY

Leonard Cheshire Disability is helping Anthony put his life back together after a devastating injury
It's amazing how your whole life can change in a moment. Three years ago, Anthony was out with his friends to watch his favourite football team and having a great time. Then he stepped into the road and was hit by a car.
Every week, around 30 people in the UK are injured in some kind of incident - often a road accident or fall - which results in brain damage. Brain injuries are always devastating and they can affect people in many different ways. But Leonard Cheshire Disability will never give up on people, however severe their injury.

We offer a range of services to help them rebuild their lives.
Anthony was so badly injured that he couldn't speak or even hold his head up. But fortunately, we found him a
place at Arfon, one of our units for people with acquired brain injuries. There he receives 24-hour support from a dedicated team of specialists, including a physiotherapist and a speech therapist.
Several months at Arfon have hugely improved Anthony's quality of life. 'We have taken small steps that have made a huge difference,' says Sheila, his mother. He can hold his head up now, and he can spend a couple of hours each day out of bed in his wheelchair. Although Anthony still can

not speak, staff are working with him to establish a way for him to communicate by pressing a switch. Above all, he is getting the encouragement he needs to make more progress.

ANDY'S STORY

Thanks to Livability my beloved son Andy was given the chance to live, when everyone else wanted to put him in a home for the dying.
You may remember my son Andy in a letter you received from Livability four years ago. At the time Andy had just moved into Treetops, one of Livability's care homes for young people with profound disabilities. Since then, thanks to the amazing work at Treetops, I am really happy to be able to tell you that he has come on in leaps and bounds.
Five years ago, when my son Andy was just 23 years old, the unthinkable happened. Andy had finished a long shift working as a fireman. Despite his fatigue, he visited a friend who had just been diagnosed with motor neurone disease to give him support. Then, as he was heading home, he fell asleep at the wheel and crashed. He had a very bad swirl injury to the brain which affected his entire body. One day my beloved son was fit and healthy and the next he was unable to eat, speak or walk.
The doctors told me that Andy would need full time care and may never get better. They offered Andy a place in a nursing home for the dying where he would have to share a room with a person in the later stages of Parkinsons. I know Andy, and I know how quickly he would have become friends with this room mate. Seeing this new friend die would not only have been extremely upsetting, but it would also have made him question what was going to happen to him. How would he find the strength and hope to fight to get better when surrounded by death and suffering? The doctor's offered me no other alternative, so all I could do was pray.

Then my friend told me about Treetops, a high dependency centre which provides 24 hour care. My prayers had been very angry, but when I looked round Treetops, I realised that thankfully they had been answered. This was a care home with a big difference. It was full of tailored specialist care, real love and, best of all, hope.
All the residents at Treetops are younger, so Andy has been able to make lots of friends of a similar age to him. And the staff really care about Andy's well-being. They do everything they can to make sure he is not in pain or ill.. They have never given up on him.
Thanks to the amazing care at Treetops, Andy has improved incredibly and the results feel like a miracle. Before Andy came to

Treetops he was being fed through a drip; however, two weeks after his arrival the nurses had got him back to eating proper food.
Eating was Andy's first achievement and he hasn't stopped there. Treetops organised an operation to straighten his feet and five years of tailored, intensive physiotherapy. This, along with his relentless determination and bravery, means he is able to walk again. Admittedly it is not as easy for him to walk as it was before the accident, but I'm so happy to see him back on his feet. If he had been put in the home for the dying he would only have received six months to recover his mobility, eating and everything before they gave up on him. They would have just left him to lie in a bed alone, unable to move and without hope.
Andy walks most places now. He also loves jumping on the trampoline. Andy
has always been really good at sports and loves the outdoors. At Treetops the staff understand Andy's hopes and dreams and do what they can to help him achieve them. One day they even took him out on a three wheel Harley, which was the bees' knees. He was so excited about it that I bought him a leather jacket especially for the occasion. The look of joy on his face brought a tear to my eye.
Andy's goals for the future are to get well enough to go back to work, earn a living and be independent. I can't
thank Livability enough for helping him. Without it Andy and I would not be where we are today.Thank you so much for supporting Livability.You kind people mean the world to me and Andy. Seeing Andy regain the freedom to live his life makes every day worth living.

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ANDY'S STORY

ACTION NOT DISABILITY