A science company has won praise for helping boost the funds of a much-loved disability charity by supporting a two-year-old with cerebral palsy who overcame physical barriers to complete a 64-step challenge in celebration of her birthday.
Derbyshire science company Lubrizol joined two-year-old Lola James, of Leicester, to hand over more than £2,000 to Steps, a highly valued centre in Shepshed that helps children with disabilities affecting motor development, such as cerebral palsy and Down Syndrome. Lola herself raised substantial funds in doing her walk which was topped up with a generous donation from Lubrizol.
The charity and Lola’s family have said they are very grateful for the funds raised, saying that Steps is a “lifeline” to many families over a wide area.
Lola’s mum Beth said: “We’ve been going to Steps for around a year now, since Lola was a little over one. Steps is a Conductive Education Centre. They take a holistic look at the child and help them with all aspects of their development. A lot of it’s physical, but they also work on cognitive skills: social skills, life skills, that kind of thing. They work with all sorts of children who have neurological disorders.
“They’re absolutely brilliant. It has been very challenging for us having a child with such a severe disability and there isn’t that much support through the NHS, just because of resources, so Steps has been a real lifeline for us.
“They’re completely free. They do everything based on fundraising, which is why this donation from Lubrizol is so amazing. They have this great centre in Shepshed, which has got loads of equipment, loads of space, loads of toys. One of the things you don’t realise until you have a disabled child is that special needs toys are so expensive. We can’t afford to have them at home but Lola can go and play with them at Steps. The staff are really well trained and really knowledgeable.
“Steps has really helped Lola come along with her physical development in particular. She can’t sit, or roll, but because they’re so well trained, they’re able to get her walking by manipulation which is something that we could never do at home. It’s really good for her and she loves the staff.
“Steps has also introduced me to a community of parents who have disabled children. When you have a disabled child you do end up staying at home a lot. There’s not much that’s accessible for you. Getting out to baby classes where you’d normally meet other parents is just not possible a lot of the time. Also, it’s hard to connect with parents who don’t have a disabled child. It’s quite painful for me seeing other children who are developing normally, as that’s the experience that we haven’t had. It’s great being able to meet a group of parents who know exactly what we’re going through. They share so much knowledge with us. We found loads of other services through the parents at Steps so it has been completely life saving for us in so many ways.”
Lubrizol made the donation to Steps through its charities and communities committee, as the company is where Lola’s dad Greg works as a photographer and videographer.
Steps was founded in 1994 by a group of parents who wanted the opportunity for children to use the principles of ‘conductive education’ in the local area, having previously had to travel to Hungary to benefit – the country where the educational system was developed.
The Shepshed centre, whose patron and trustee is Rosemary Conley, runs daily classes mainly for pre-school aged children, and recently developed digital sessions through Covid to enable people from a much wider area to benefit from its expertise.
The charity’s lead conductor, Indila Simandi, who has been involved with Steps for more than 20 years, said: “This donation was massively valuable for us. We’re a charity and we rely solely on fundraising to be able to operate. It costs us £220,000 a year to run our service. The building running costs are huge, and obviously we have highly qualified and trained staff to deliver the sessions, and we have lots of equipment that we use in our sessions too. It’s a constant struggle, I must be honest, and that’s exactly why we’re so grateful for these funds. Without those, we would not be able to be here for our families.”
Tom Grazier, chair of Lubrizol’s charities and communities committee, said: “When Greg reached out to ask if we might support Lola’s walking challenge, we were delighted to be able to help out. Supporting charities and community activities is very important to us at Lubrizol and it’s clear that Steps really is something special, offering an incredible service to families for whom it’s a genuine lifeline. We’re very proud to have been able to help in a small way. But mainly, congratulations to Lola on her fantastic walking achievement!”
For more on Steps and how to help, see www.stepscentre.org.uk/.
