The Sequal Trust Current Appeals January 2024

At the moment we are fundraising for 18 applicants. They vary in age and requirements. Below read about a few of those from our waiting list. If you would like to donate for a specific applicant or to our general funds please use the Just Giving or send a cheque to the address on our Home page or call The Sequal Trust office for our bank details to make a BACs payment.

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We are fundraising to supply Grid Pads to the following people who are all non-verbal to give them the ability to communicate and improve their quality of life.

For Finlay who is 6 years old and lives in Gwent we need to raise £4232 for his equipment package. Finlay has a strong desire to communicate but this will only be possible with a speech aid as it will allow him to communicate his needs and desires effectively. Finley lives at home with his mother and stepdad. His mum describes him as a very happy, energetic, bubbly little boy who loves his scooter, playing on his trampoline, seeing his cousins and generally being outdoors.

For Jordan who is 22 years old and lives in Enfield we need to raise £4500. Jordan’s favourite things are being outside, playing with sensory activities, listening to music, watching TV and eating snacks. He doesn’t like a lot of noise or crowds.  He would benefit so much from having his own communication equipment, he likes structure to his day and being in control of his daily activities such as requesting a sensory break, answering questions and interacting with others He likes to be given support to use his communication book to request things and express how he feels.

For Ava who is aged 6 and lives in Worcestershire, we need to raise £9186 for her equipment package. Ava lives with her twin sister and her mum. Ava has support for overnight as she has difficulty sleeping due to her care needs. She is a happy, loving and giggly little girl. She enjoys and interacts with her classmates by smiling and laughing but she cannot express what she needs. She is unable to become involved in activities with her sister, friends and peers. The only way Ava can communicate is with eye pointing and facial expressions to express her emotions, such as smiling or crying or sad.  Ava is desperate to interact with her twin sister and with all those around her. Her lack of communication affects her whole life with her family. Ava can get very frustrated when she is unable to communicate her needs.

For Mark who is 20 years old and lives in Exeter, we need to raise £4536. Mark is often in a great deal of pain which is very debilitating but when his pain is managed he is a smiling and sociable young man who loves to communicate and laugh with his friends. Music has always played a large part in Mark’s life, he particularly likes listening to live music and is happiest when he is also strumming a guitar at the same time or tapping on a keyboard.

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We are raising funds to provide two people from Scotland who have Retts Syndrome with a Dynavox from Tobii Dynavox.

For Vikki, who is 23 and is from West Lothian we need to raise £7552 and for Gabriella who is from Glasgow and is 6 years old, we need to raise £8973. Rett Syndrome is a neurological condition that most often strikes previously healthy little girls between their first and second birthdays, leaving them with multiple disabilities and medical complexities for life.

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Colby and Maya are both looking for Nova Chat 8’s to give them the means to communicate:

For Maya from Merseyside who is 17 years old, we need to raise £3195.

For Colby from Cambridgeshire who is  11 years old, we need to raise £3422. At school, Colby only has access to non-verbal communication including pointing, gesturing and spelling and typing on a computer. He can use symbols in school work but he requires a high level of adult support to interpret his non-verbal communication and is unlikely to be understood by unfamiliar adults or peers. Colby’s Speech and Language Therapist said that during the trials she ran with him on high-tech devices, he demonstrated that he could access them and communicate with others. He was able to type out sentences to communicate in a variety of contexts including requesting, commenting and answering questions.  He told his mother “I love you” and requested what he wanted to watch on YouTube and TV as well as being able to answer more complex questions. He even did an order at the till in their local café. She said that Colby obtaining a device would give him independence within the community where he may go on to college and further education and she fully supports this campaign to help him obtain one.

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We are fundraising for iPads with special communication software as follows.

For Darrian, aged 9 from Liverpool we need to raise £2500 

For Aaron from Surrey who is 29, we need to raise £800

For Joshua, aged 10, from Peterborough, we need to raise £1309

For Kian from Devon who is 6, we need to raise £500

For Megan from Sussex who is 15, we need to raise £850

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We have one applicant on the waiting list who has equipment that is no longer functioning and isn’t financially viable to repair. Stacey from Gloucester requires a replacement Lightwriter for which we need to raise £2965. It is even harder for those who have had the use of a communication aid when they have to manage without one.

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We are fundraising to provide a PC Eye gaze device for Sophia who is 7 years old and from Leicester we need to raise £5010 Sophia has a Neurodevelopmental disorder. She is non-verbal and has poor motor skills and as a result, is unable to have any control over precise functional movement.  She lives at home with her parents and younger sister and has an extended family whom she loves dearly.  Her main carers are her parents and her needs are very complex.

Daniel who is 41 from Bedfordshire needs a specially adapted PC. In 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was working on the front line emergency services when he contracted COVID-19 pneumonia and suffered a Stroke. Following intensive and extensive treatment in Luton & Dunstable Hospital, he woke from an induced coma to discover he was paralysed on the left side of his body. In addition to his mobility challenges, the stroke left him with other brain damages consisting of sight impairment, neurological seizures and cognitive damage. At present, he only has an old unreliable iPad which doesn’t have a large enough screen to meet his visual requirements so he desperately needs a new large screen laptop to help with this and also a Track Ball Mouse for easier navigation due to his reduced hand mobility. We need to raise £727 for Daniel’s equipment.