Ethos Public Relations Manchester

Family's plea to raise funds for son

by Ethos public relations

Peter Langton is in many ways like any other happy, independent 11 year-old boy. He loves spending time on his computer, playing with his twin brother and is a huge Dr Who fan.

But Peter has cerebral palsy, an incurable condition that affects the development and movement of muscles in the body.

Peter needs permanent use of a wheelchair, but his manual one means that he cannot move around on his own - understandably frustrating for an independent young boy who is starting high school next month.

Now his family, who lives in Nyetimber near Bognor Regis, has launched a national appeal to help raise money to buy a new £15,000 powered stand-up wheelchair. National disability charity Action For Kids has just issued a postal appeal to the people of West Sussex to ask for their much needed support.

Peter's mum, Sharon, says that the chair is crucial to her son's interaction with other children.

"Peter is a born leader - he loves to take control and he has never felt limited by his disability," she said. "Peter is so excited about starting secondary school. He's very bright and does very well at school so, to be honest, he spends a lot more time in the classroom with the other kids than outside in the special needs unit.

"As a Dr Who fan, Peter is particularly looking forward to getting involved in Science lessons and the stand-up wheelchair will allow him to join in with all the experiments that his peers will be doing."

Charity Action For Kids supports children and young people with physical and learning disabilities across the UK by providing mobility equipment, Work Related Learning and family support.

If you would like to help Peter get his new wheelchair, please go to www.actionforkids.org/downloads/donate-post-form.pdf, or call 0208 347 8111.

Posted at 1^st September 2009