Following on from the fundraising we started for Joseph a couple of years ago, I wanted to update you all on what we have managed to get with him and to also make a plea for help with further fundraising.

As you can see in the picture, Joseph absolutely loves his bike and we have enjoyed many bike rides as a family but also with Joseph's friends.

He is also finally getting going with the eye gaze. Even though it arrived last year, he has not been able to use it as we have been waiting on some software and training. The software is now installed and he had the training a couple of weeks ago so he is now ready to start using it. He will start using it for a short while each day at school with the hope that by the time he gets to high school he will be confident and proficient at using it.

The final piece of equipment we have been fundraising for is the portable hoist which is becoming increasingly more important as he gets bigger. We now have nearly all the money for this and are now ready to start looking for the most suitable one for him.

Thanks to everyone who has helped either by donating or by fundraising in another way. I must make a special mention to Colin, Helen, Rachael, David, Karen, Michelle, Emma, Katie, Hannah, Joanne and Matt who have all done fundraising for him as well as Persimmon homes and the Association of Former Man Utd players.

Now comes a big plea to all our family and friends. In the last fortnight we have had meetings with both the High school and wheelchair services. It has become apparent that we need to look at getting Joseph a new chair in time for when he starts high school in Sept 2018. His current chair is now 6 years old and is obsolete, so finding any parts for repair work will be very, very difficult. Discussions have also suggested that the best way forward for him when he gets to high school is a sit to stand chair as the school feel it would be difficult to accommodate both his chair and stander, which he has to use on a daily basis for physiotherapy. A sit to stand chair is not available on the NHS and will be at least £15000. We have been advised that we need to start fundraising now if there is any chance he will have one in time for staring high school.

Joseph's current chair was charity funded by the Joseph Patrick trust. We were very fortunate at the time as they were the Tesco charity of the year and had a lot of money available for equipment for children with muscular dystrophy related conditions. Unfortunately, this kind of funding is just not available any more.

I appreciate that most of our friends have family have already been very generous and already donated towards his bike, eye gaze and hoist and we are not asking for further donations.

Jamie and I are running the Great North Run in Sept and hope to raise some sponsorship for his chair then, but we know it will be very unlikely to hit anywhere near the £15000 mark we need to raise.

What would be really helpful is if anyone is doing something that could be sponsored, they could consider doing it to raise money for Joseph's new chair. A run, sky dive, climb etc etc (or even organising a charity event).

Many thanks for reading and thanks to everyone for their ongoing support.