Hi everyone!

We are Patrick and Teja and our family are currently raising funds for our hearty little boy, Koehn (now 8 years of age) to access intensive therapy this July/August to support his rehabilitation following a stroke he had in 2017 during birth. Koehn has faced so much more than many little boys of his age should, and has been left with several medical conditions as a result, including cerebral palsy which impacts the left hand side of his body due to the brain injury from the stroke.

In November we went to London to meet with the Charity Breathe Magic, their programme is an innovative intervention, incorporating specially selected magic tricks that provoke specific two-handed actions, as well as performance and problem-solving skills, for young people with hemiplegia and cerebral palsy (aged between 6-18 years).

Founded on world-class medical research, young people have access to over 60 hours of bimanual intensive therapy, transforming them into inspired young magicians! Highly specialist occupational therapists work alongside talented Magic Circle magicians to provide bimanual, goal-oriented, intensive therapy in a fun and nurturing group setting. One-to-one support is tailored to suit each young person’s particular strengths, needs, and their own personal goals.

By learning high-quality magic and performance skills, young people will:

- Increase their independence in self-care skills and other personal goals that they highlight.

- Improve their psychosocial wellbeing by building confidence, self-esteem and a can-do attitude.

- Develop the skills to participate in two-handed daily activities with increased independence.

- Meet and connect with other young people with hemiplegia.

We are very excited and feel so lucky that Koehn is being given this opportunity, the charity will part fund his place and are aiming to raise the rest of the necessary funds. Included in this, is our little girl Sara who will accompany us along with Koehn to London for 2 weeks.

We have lots of plans for fundraising in the pipeline, just getting things fine tuned currently but we shall keep you all updated

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has offered support already. We appreciate you all so much!

7.5% of all donations to Tree of Hope in relation to this appeal will be allocated to the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope to cover our core operating costs.

If we raise insufficient funds, or surplus funds, they will be used, if appropriate, to fund support for our child’s needs in accordance with Tree of Hope’s charitable objectives. If, in those circumstances, we are unable to use all or part of the funds for the benefit of our child, any funds that cannot be used will be transferred to be used for the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope.