A boy with cerebral palsy has raised more than £7,800 in less than 24 hours by taking to the streets of his local town.
Patrick McCabe has cerebral palsy quadriplegia and uses a motorised wheelchair and requires assistive technology to communicate.
Regardless of his disability, Patrick loves adventure and last year heard about Kendal-based charity the Bendrigg Trust and couldn’t wait to experience a day full of adventure activities.
With the help of specialist equipment, Patrick was able to take part in a range of accessible activities including scaling the climbing wall alongside his siblings.
After being blown away by the services offered by the charity, he decided to raise money by dancing with residents in his local town.
“After my first visit to the Bendrigg Trust I felt that my life had been changed forever as I could finally do things alongside my siblings that I never felt possible,” said Patrick.
“Like reaching the top of the indoor climbing wall…. it was epic. Like many other charities, Bendrigg has had to close its doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has had a critical impact on their ability to stay open and support young children and adults in need of their support.
“I know that Bendrigg have a huge positive impact on so many people’s lives and I wanted to do something to try to make sure that their incredible work can continue.
“At the same time, I wanted to put a smile on the faces of those people in my village who have maybe struggled through the pandemic crisis and show people that spring is around the corner and with lockdown easing a little, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for us all. Thank you for helping to make dreams a reality and to allow everyone to achieve through smiles and adventure.”
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Patrick, of Alderley Edge in Cheshire, set an initial fundraising target of £1,000, but in just 24 hours smashed that by raising £7,845.
Martha Wood, from the Bendrigg Trust, said: “All the team watched Patrick’s video and it instantly brought a huge smile to all of our faces.
“We were amazed at Patrick’s fundraising efforts and are so grateful as the money will enable us to continue providing services for disabled people in the UK and it’s no exaggeration to say that these activities have a profound effect on our visitors, particularly after the pandemic because so many disabled people have been shielding for over a year now.
“It’s been a difficult time for our charity as well, as it has for many UK charities. The demand is higher for our services yet we have not been able to offer our regular services due to the restrictions which have put a huge strain on our finances.
“We can’t wait to reopen again in the summer so that more children like Patrick have the opportunity to have fun, laugh and smile again. We are so grateful for all Patrick has done.”
To donate go to https://justgiving.com/fundraising/patrick-mccabe5
