Grateful Shrewsbury teenager launches £18,000 fundraising drive for children's charity

Thomas Lake, has cerebral palsy – a condition that restricts the movement of his muscles – which has left him unable to stand or walk.

The 14-year-old, from Harlescott, has just enough strength in his right hand to use a powered wheelchair.

The wheelchairs he has had over the past 10 years have allowed him to access mainstream school, but he has outgrown his current wheelchair and it has started to affect his studies.

He has had to use his more basic NHS model which does not enable him to get up to science laboratory desks.

The wheelchair has reduced his self-esteem as it is less powerful and he keeps getting stuck on surfaces that he could previously access.

Thomas recently had to be helped by footballers when he became stuck on a pitch in Sundorne, and a group of surfers had to rescue him on Porthmadog beach.

His mother Helen, aged 41, contacted Caudwell Children – a national charity that provides support to disabled children and their families – to see if they could help her son.

She said: "They’ve been amazing. The high to low wheelchair that they said best suited Thomas's needs came in at a whopping £18,685.

"Unfortunately, it isn’t funded through the NHS so I was overwhelmed when Caudwell Children said that they would fund 80 per cent of the cost.

“Not only that, they also signposted me to other charities and trusts to cover the balance of the wheelchair. When I told Thomas, he simply couldn’t believe it.”

Thomas, a pupil at Lakelands Academy, in Ellesmere, has ambitions of becoming a YouTube vlogger when he is older, although he also has interests in science and gaming.

He said: “The wheelchair will give me much more independence as it will be able to lift me to about five feet high, so I’ll finally be able to mix with my friends.“

The wheelchair also has excellent driving capabilities and can drive over chipping, soft grassed areas and wet sand.

Thomas will be able to raise himself to the windows in the school doors, enabling him to alert teachers when they need to open one for him.

He added: "I’ll also be able to travel outside more and play with my dog, Hollie.

“It’s going to make a massive difference to my life and that’s why I want to try and raise the money.

"I want another young person in Shropshire to have a wheelchair like this so that they can do the things that I’ll be able to do.”

His father, Neville, 44, said it will also benefit both him and Helen.

He said: “Thomas is fast growing into a young man, he’s already taller than his mum and he can be difficult to move.

“The new wheelchair, however, has been designed to tilt so that we will be able to put him in a lying position which will help us to manoeuvre and stretch him, as looking after his posture is vital as he is having huge growth spurts. This would be incredibly difficult to do in his old wheelchair.”

Thomas is urging businesses and the community to get behind his fundraising efforts.

He said: “I’m really excited about getting my new wheelchair, it’s a dream come true. But I know that there will be others like me out there who also need support.

“I’m appealing to the public to help me make their dreams come true."

Trudi Beswick, chief executive of Caudwell Children, said: “This piece of equipment will improve Thomas’s life immeasurably, helping him to develop both physically, emotionally and academically.

“Unbelievably, there are 70,000 children in the UK who would benefit from the correct mobility equipment. Thanks to generous donations from members of the public we can support young people like Thomas, giving them the specialist equipment that they so desperately need and deserve.

“I’d urge the public to support Thomas’s appeal.”

People can support the appeal by visiting justgiving.com/fundraising/chair4thomasl or make a donation by texting PEAL61 £3 to 70070.