An eight year-old girl from Glasgow is getting ready to celebrate her ninth birthday by raising money for Bobath Scotland because we have supported her young cousin.
Sadie Hay has organised a sponsored walk on her birthday and is asking friends and classmates to donate to Bobath instead of giving her a present.
Her five year-old cousin Noah has cerebral palsy and receives therapy from us.
Sadie’s mum, Sharon said:
“She had been speaking about what she wanted to do for her birthday, and out of the blue said she wanted to do something for charity. And then quite quickly she realised that she wanted to raise money for Bobath Scotland because her cousin Noah goes there for therapy.
“She worked on a presentation herself which she gave to her whole school, explaining what cerebral palsy is and a little bit about her cousin, and inviting everyone to take part in the sponsored walk and donate to her fundraising page.
“Her dad helped her print little business cards with a QR code which takes you directly to the donation page and she also designed a poster for school to advertise details of the walk.
“She still thinks she is not getting any birthday presents, and she is fine with that! I’m really proud of her, and I’m so impressed how she’s been involved in every step. She’s absolutely delighted because a few of her friends have said that they are going to do something for charity for their birthdays now too.”
Sadie has already raised £900 and is hoping to raise more in the run-up to the event, which will take place on 9 November in Victoria Park.
Noah’s mum, Heather Hay, is also delighted that her niece is raising money for Bobath Scotland. The family live in Banff and have previously travelled to Glasgow to get specialist therapy for their son at the Bobath Scotland centre. They are soon to be starting therapy sessions with Bobath therapists in Aberdeenshire, as part of our outreach programme. She said:
“Sadie gave us a ring and said she wanted to do something for charity for her birthday and told us she had chosen Bobath Scotland. She read us the presentation she gave to her school over the phone and it made us feel very proud that she wanted to do this for her cousin. My husband and I both felt a bit emotional when she first told us. It’s really sweet of her, and it’s superb that she has gone out of her way to do this at such a young age.”
“As a family, we have found the intensive therapy sessions at Bobath Scotland really beneficial – not just for Noah, but it’s also made us more aware of how his body works and how we can support him better. Noah has right-sided hemiplegia, which means he finds using that side of his body quite challenging. The sessions really opened our eyes to how we can encourage him to use his whole body. After the therapy sessions we noticed small improvements in how he was moving that really made us smile and realise that every little helps.”
Commenting on the fundraiser, Stephanie Fraser, CEO of Bobath Scotland said:
“We are so impressed with everything that Sadie is doing and are extremely grateful for her support. Raising vital funds means that we can be here for children like Noah and many others across Scotland living with cerebral palsy who need specialist help. Thank you Sadie and we hope you have a very happy birthday.”