Team Elsie

https://gogetfunding.com/team-elsie-3/

Over the last few months we have spent a lot of time researching powered wheelchairs for Elsie. There were a number of brands that stood out and a few that we were recommended by other wheelchair users.

After much deliberation we settled on the Snap dragon which was actually designed by a father of someone who had the same condition as Elsie. The opportunities are endless in this chair and Elsie loved her trial in it a few weeks ago. During the trial Elsie approached a cat and wanted to stroke it. She was able to do this in the Snap dragon as she could press a button that lowered her all the way to the floor!! I think that was the moment were me and Charlotte decided that she had to have one. Check the cat moment out in the gallery.

The Snap dragon costs £23,600. Thanks to everybody's donations and fundraising efforts over the last 18 months we have been able to buy Elsie a snap dragon and she should take delivery of this in about 20 weeks time. While Elsie's Snapdragon is being built we will be supplied with a demo model so she can start to get used to the chair and how it operates.

If you are reading this and have donated to Team Elsie in the past, please know that you made a special little girl very happy!!!

We held the second Team Elsie Fun'd'ay on Sunday 4th September 2016 and raised £2525.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered and attended the day. We all had a great time.

Hi,

It's been a while since we last checked in and updated all our followers on what has been going on. Here goes....

Fundraising: We continue to have momentum with the fundraising events and there always seems to be something going on for Team Elsie, whether that is a solo effort like Becky Hitchcock doing the triathlon or a group organised event like the Fun'd'ay due to take place in September. We would like to thank everybody for their continued support no matter how big or small! The fundraising total stands at a very impressive 30k!!!

How has the money helped so far?: Back in May we took delivery of Elsie's first manual wheelchair (Abu, as Elsie calls him). The wheelchair is made by Panthera who also supply the Paralympian team with their wheelchairs due to the lightweight design. We were originally told by certain medical professionals that Elsie would struggle with the self propelling skill required to use a manual chair. Once again she has proved the experts wrong and continues to gain the strength to wiz round in "Abu". We have also been able to purchase a specially adapted stroller (Special Tomato) that provides significant postural support for Elsie whilst allowing us to access places that have challenging terrain. The postural cushions that come as part of the seat double up as support for Elsie when we eat out at restaurants which means she doesn't have to sit in a high chair and feel like a baby. We have also been paying for Elsie to access a hydrotherapy pool every week as this enables her to exercise her muscles and loosen up in the support of the warm water. Theses sessions cost £50 a week so you can see how this can start to add up. Unfortunately Elsie is only entitled to 6 sessions through the NHS per year even though studies show that hydrotherapy can increase movement and maintain muscle strength. We are grateful to the parents of Elsie's friends who have brought their children along to help reduce the cost but also to 'normalise' it for her so she can have fun in the water with her friends.

Elsie: Elsie is as bright as a button and a very happy 2 year old. The equipment Elsie currently has allows her to get on with life and access the things her friends can. She absorbs information like a sponge and has started asking questions about her ability. This is sometimes difficult to explain but we made a promise that we would never lie to her or dampen her spirits.

What's next?: 2017 will be a busy and expensive year. We have started to look at Elsie's next wheelchair and a wheelchair adapted vehicle to transport her in. There are several schemes available for the WAV but early research in to the wheelchair suggests that we could be looking at spending anywhere between 15 and 25k. We are currently going through the disabled facilities grant application in order to make the adaptations to our home that will improve Elsie's quality of life and meet her long term medical needs. The grant allows us to access up to £30k but we believe that to get the right adaptation for Elsie we will need £50k.

Thank you for taking the time to read this update.

Team Elsie X

Becky is a regular part of the Team Elsie army and continues to raise funds by selling cakes at work on a regular basis.

On the 17th July 2016 Becky will be taking part in the Jenson Button triathlon. Becky would be the first person to admit that this is something outside of her comfort zone, but that just shows how far she is willing to go for Elsie!

Becky has set up her own page to raise funds and gain sponsorship. Please follow or share the link below and spread the word.

gogetfunding.com/Jenson-button-triathlon-for-team-Elsie/

Good luck Becky and thank you once again for everything you have done for Team Elsie!!

Pupils in Fortitudo house from Charlotte's school took part in a Sponsored run/walk around the school field during form time and raised a total of £74.90.

Thank you to everyone who took part in this event.

The exercise for Elsie event that was held in April proved a great success!!

Lyndsey Stevenson led 4 fully booked exercise classes at the body box gym in Mansfield. The classes along with a cake sale and tombola raised a total of £320.

Thank you to:

Stacey Charles and Lyndsey Wells for planning, promoting and organising the event.

Danielle Humphries and Eilidh Vizard for making and selling lots of cakes and taking part in the exercise classes (Danielle did all four).

Everyone who attended the event.

The Bellisima ladies choir have raised £68 by contributing towards a collection jar at their fortnightly rehearsals. This is an ongoing collection and we are very thankful for their continued support for Team Elsie.

Sarah is a former Cantamus member who was in the choir shortly before Charlotte joined in the 90's.

Over the Christmas period Sarah did a number of concerts alongside the Nottinghamshire WI, Tuxford church, Eakring church and the Dukeries singers. All of the money raised from these concerts has kindly been donated to Team Elsie.

Sarah raised a total of £1365!!!

We would like to thank Sarah and those mentioned above for this humbling contribution to the Team Elsie fund. X

Lindsey Stevenson has kindly offered to put on an event at the body box studios in Mansfield to help raise funds for Team Elsie.

The event will be held at the body box fitness studios, 4 Botany Avenue, Mansfield NG18 5NF. There will be four classes running on the day at the following times:

10am - Bodyjam

11am - Bodyattack

12pm - Bodypump

1pm - Bodycombat

Please visit www.body-box.co.uk/exercise-for-Elsie to check availability and book your chosen class. All classes are £3 each and all of the money raised will go to Team Elsie.

If you would rather sit back and relax with some cake then we will also be running a cake stall and tombola on site.

Thank you as ever to our two loyal Team Elsie fundraisers Lindsey Wells and Stacey Charles for setting up and arranging this event.