DEBBIE TURNER

Help us build a better future for our daughter Keira

Fundraising for Sullivan's Heroes
£51,746
raised of £65,000 target
Donations cannot currently be made to this page
Funding for Keira's BIG build, 11 September 2020
Sullivan's Heroes

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 1163021
We provide grants, support and fundraising to adapt the homes of UK disabled children

Story

Keira is our 14 year old daughter who we are raising the funds to adapt our house as it currently does not fit her every day needs.

Keira has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy. At present we carry Keira upstairs and downstairs to her bedroom and to the bathroom. Unfortunately, due to my physical ability it's just impossible to carry up and downstairs so many times a day. Therefore, I am forced to change her continence pads on the floor (rug). A simple solution would be a chair lift or through the floor lift, however this is not an option as our 10 year old son has severe autism and OT has deemed both options a health and safety risk due to his lack of danger awareness.  OT has suggested that a ground floor bedroom/wet-room adaption is the safest option for our ever growing family needs.

Like any teenager we also feel it is time for Keira to have her own privacy and dignity that she desires and absolutely deserves. A space for her to be able to go when she comes home from school and watch Tv (controlled by her eye gaze technology) with no one else around.  Somewhere to play on her iPad and listen to her music which she absolutely loves to do every day. Every year we fundraise to take Keira to USA to do intensive therasuit therapy which she has been doing since she was 2,5 years old. 3 weeks of 4 hours a day therapy which she loves. It would be amazing to be able to get home from her therapy and have her space to relax after such hard graft.

As Keira gets older it is getting harder to get up and down the stairs and also it is quite scary carrying a 14 year old.  Having a downstairs space would benefit all of the family so much in so many ways.  As her parents,  we do everything we can to make her quality of life as comfortable as possible,  however the continual lifting is physically demanding and is proving more difficult and taking its toll on our back.  Furthermore,  if the adaptions go ahead Keira has her downstairs bedroom/wet-room she will not be disturbed during the night when her little brother wakes up (most nights). This would potentially decrease her risk of seizures which she tends to have upon waking up and drifting off back to sleep.  Future proofing our home to meet Keira's needs now and into adolescence then adulthood is a huge step, with many costs which we need help from our community in doing so.

The adaptions that we intend to make to our home will allow us to continue to care for Keira as she gets bigger and older and as we get older. It also secures independent living for Keira once she reaches adulthood and also a place where any future carers that come to help with Keiras needs have all the essentials necessary to provide the care she needs.

We have been awarded the disabled facilities grant from Fife council which is £20.000 and have had 3 different companies in to discuss our options. We are hoping to go ahead with the build next year but obviously we are still a long way off target with £65.000 to raise  *we have raised the amount due to price of materials now I comparison to when we originally started fundraising* 

FUNDS RAISED SO FAR

We have raised £3382 - Keira did a sponsored 2 mile walk in her MyWay walker and her wee buddy Reece did a 10 mile bike ride and between them and the communities very generous donations and sponsors we raised the above amount.

Sullivan's Heroes have pledged a fantastic £1000 towards Keiras BIG build also which is amazing.

Recently mid November Stephens the bakers foundation pledged an amazing £717.59 towards Keiras BIG build which will help and go towards the purchase of a hi-lo bed for her specific needs. 

We also raised offline a further £200 doing a festive hamper raffle so this brings our offline total raised so far to £5299.59.

The national benevolent fund has pledged £500 towards flooring costs.

Cash for kids Edinburgh,  lothians and Fife has pledged the entire cost of the wetfloor shower room which is £6840

A £15,000 donation from someone who wishes to remain anonymous and we respect that. We are so grateful for such a generous contribution towards Miss Keiras BIG build.

A pledge from Pauley family who walked the virtual kilt walk earlier this year, amazing effort £450

A £5000 pledge from ExxonMobil to go towards a new communication device that we can connect to her lights, TV, Alexa and music so she has all round more independence.

Having started our build before 29th January 2022 we were able to get a further grant of £2500 towards our build from Sullivan’s Heroes.

Rotary club Dunfermline pledged £250

CRSmith kindly donated all of the new windows and doors towards Keiras BIG build easing our total quite a bit! 

Adapting a property is not something that is easily done and alot of planning has to go into it for all aspects of your child and families life for now and for the future.  Please help us get this right for Keira to give her the life she needs to be a stroppy little teenager just like any other her age in her own bedroom because I know at any given chance my little Diva will find a way to slam her bedroom door on my face and oh do I long for that day!



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About the charity

Sullivan's Heroes

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 1163021
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. Please support us, to build brighter futures for disabled children.

Donation summary

Total raised
£51,745.70
+ £63.50 Gift Aid
Online donations
£384.00
Offline donations
£51,361.70

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