Staff from a Caerphilly-based insurance company have raised more than £1,500 for a local children’s charity.
Staff from Caerphilly’s branch of Swinton Insurance static-cycled the equivalent distance from Caerphilly to Disneyland Paris in order to help raise funds for the Caerphilly-based charity, Parents of Partially Sighted Youngsters (POPSY).
POPSY is a support group for parents and carers of children who are blind or partially-sighted, have additional needs or life-limiting conditions.
The £1,573.95 raised will help the charity hire a ‘jumbulance’ to take families with disabled youngsters to the Disneyland Paris next year.
A jumbulance is a wheelchair accessible coach fitted with a lift, kitchen, toilet and wheelchair and bed tie-in points, as well as traditional coach seats, making travel possible for families with blind and disabled children.
The planned trip to the entertainment resort coincides with POPSY’s 15th anniversary in 2018.
The group was started in 2003 by Dr Tymandra Blewett-Silcock, whose daughter Poppy, 14, has Warburg Micro Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder which causes sight problems as well as affecting the development of the brain.
The condition means Poppy is blind and unable to walk or talk.
Tymandra founded the project to empower other families facing similar challenges who need a place to go to for advice and help, and the group offers families friendship and support from others going through the same experiences.
The project has grown from supporting 20 local families to hundreds across South Wales, and is committed to helping families live life to the full.