Sullivan’s Heroes is a charity offering support and financial assistance for families raising essential funds for vital home adaptations for a disabled child, to continue to care for their child at home, safely and with dignity. They are supporting us to fund some of the adaptations needed to ensure our daughter, Olive, leads a happy and full life, with access to all parts of her own home- just like any other child. 

Olive is a happy and lively five-year-old, with a smile for everyone. She was born early and needed lots of help to pull through. She has Cerebral Palsy and is profoundly deaf. She has cochlear implants, which help her to hear speech and sounds. Olive moves around on her knees for short periods but mainly uses her wheelchair. Despite having limited movement in her arms and hands, she is very good at making the most of her skills! She loves to be a part of everything and join in what we are doing. Olive says that one day, she wants to have a cafe with her big sister, Connie, and she is going to make the cakes with her Grandma. 

As well as being parents to our beautiful children, we are NHS paediatric therapists and work with children with disabilities. We are fully aware of the difficulties that may lie ahead for our daughter, but we also know the huge potential she has. 

We have a three-bedroom house which is not suitable for a wheelchair user. Sadly, most of the house is inaccessible to Olive, even getting through doorways proves difficult as they are narrow with limited space to turn. She also needs a specially adapted change space and wetroom, which we don’t have. We have to carry her up/downstairs- which is not easy when she’s a growing 5 year old! 

We want to extend and adapt our home to suit her needs- for now and in the future. We decided early on that as it’s Olive's home, we need to make sure she can access every part of it- including upstairs.

We are installing adaptations such as hoists in her bedroom and bathroom to lift her into the bed/ shower; a through floor lift that will go directly from the hall to her bedroom (so no more carrying her up and down the stairs- which is currently not safe for her or us); sliding doors she can open and close; opening up the downstairs space to make it completely wheelchair accessible; and an accessible kitchen- so she can finally help us make and bake! 

We plan to have a ramp to access the front of the house and create level access from the family space in the back of the house out into the garden, so Olive can get into the garden too. 

These specialist adaptations will mean she can be a part of the everyday family activities that other people take for granted. It would be life-changing for all of us. 

All of this comes at a considerable cost. We started building work in June 2022 but costs have increased dramatically in the last year- and continue to rise- leaving us with a deficit of £40,000. 

Sullivan’s heroes are helping us make Olive’s accessible house a reality and we want to support them to help us and other families.