I'll let Joseph's mum explain why I am asking You to give 1 extra Christmas present this year...

We are fundraising for a new wheelchair for Joseph. We are aiming to raise at least £20,000 by May 2018 so that he can have his new wheelchair in time for starting high school in September 2018.

Joseph is 10 years old and has SMA Type 2 (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). SMA is a life limiting condition which results in generalised progressive muscle weakness. He has never been able to crawl or walk, and over the years we have seen him lose strength in his arms, hands, neck and swallowing. He has a gastrostomy to help ensure he receives the calories and nutrition to keep him well. He also uses non-invasive ventilation at night to help with his breathing and to steer off potentially life threatening chest infections.

Despite all of this, Joseph is a beautiful, bright and cheerful little boy who does a terrific job of just getting on with life despite his severe disabilities. He has driven a powered wheelchair since he was 3 and loves participating in wheelchair football (the photo is of him with the trophy for the North West Powerchair Football League which his team recently won). He is also a very keen Manchester United supporter and he was lucky enough to meet the team at a dream day in October 2016.

Joseph's current wheelchair is an Etac Balder and he has had this chair since he was 4 years old. He was fortunate enough to get this chair fully funded by the Joseph Patrick Trust from Muscular Dystrophy UK. At the time, they were Tesco charity of the year and therefore were in a position to fully fund wheelchairs. Unfortunately such funding is just not available any more.

Joseph's current wheelchair became obsolete a few years ago which makes finding parts for any repair work very, very difficult. We know that Joseph will need a new wheelchair to replace the Balder before parts are completely unavailable.

Joseph is due to start high school in September 2018. Discussions with his physiotherapist and the high school have suggested that the best way forward is a sit to stand chair. The school is not very accessible and 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 £20,000.

This is a huge amount of money to try and raise and so we are starting the fundraising now so that hopefully he will have his new wheelchair in time for starting high school in September 2018.

In Joseph’s own words “It would be useful to have a sit to stand chair because it would enable me to have no standing frame and to do less transfers out of my chair, also my chair is very old so it needs replacing. If I can get a this chair then this will give me the capability to stand up whilst driving, also at high school they won't have room for a standing frame. Unfortunately these chairs aren't given to me for free”