We are Chase Terrace Academy, raising £50,000 to upgrade the lift in our main school building for our student Daniel Ball, who is 13 years old and has a rare genetic condition.

Dan suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which is a degenerative muscle wasting disease which is life limiting. Dan is a typical teenager with the added complications that his condition brings. At a time in his life when he should be becoming more independent, the reverse is the case as his muscles continue to deteriorate, as he becomes more dependent on his equipment and people that care for him. This unfortunately is manifesting now, at a time when all his peers and contemporaries are experiencing more independence than ever before.

The lifts in our main building are no longer fit for purpose and Dan is no longer able to use them to access lessons on the 1st floor. On top of the daily struggles that he faces, to be excluded due to circumstance is very hard to explain or understand.

We have installed a new computer room downstairs and made several adjustments for Dan to continue to learn effectively on the ground floor, but he has been left feeling somewhat isolated, posing a threat to his emotional wellbeing. We are passionate about providing Dan with an environment where he can live, love, laugh and learn, the same as all of our other students and not let his condition define him. We asked Dan what this means to him and he said:

having the new lift would improve my school life drastically. I will be independent. It will allow me to access the same places as my peers so Im not excluded from some lessons. It will make me feel as a wheelchair user that my wheelchair does not limit me in terms of where I can go. It will also put worries of stressing teachers out by moving downstairs at ease. Most importantly however, it means others who need the lift as well as me will also be able to access lessons upstairs and have independence.

As a school, we are trying to secure funding through a Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) bid process, but no funding is guaranteed and it could take a matter of years to secure, which would mean Dan would not benefit and this would be hugely detrimental to his mental health and the learning opportunities afforded to him. We want to raise this money for Dan now and we want him to benefit as soon as possible!

Over the next few months we will be running a number of fundraisers but we have set up this Just Giving page up so anyone can make a voluntary donation. We would be forever grateful for any donation, no matter how small.

In the event the bid process was successful for the lift, all money raised through this page will contribute towards our school improvement fund, which we have launched to raise a further £15,000 to extend the accelerated reading programme into Year 8 and 9 and £35,000 to renovate Lees Hall, the schools lecture theatre.

Our priority is first and foremost to raise £50,000 for Dan's lift as we are not hopeful the bid process will be successful or timely, but it is important that we are completely open and honest should the bid be granted. For full details about our school improvement fund, please see the front page of the schools website at www.cttc.staffs.sch.uk. This is also where we will be keeping you all updated on our progress!

Thank you so much for reading.