Two Leicester centres which provide overnight short breaks for young people with severe learning disabilities received a pleasant shock when one of the service users’ parents handed over a £2,000 donation to help with the centre’s work.
Steve Crook’s daughter Harriet attends Praxis Care’s Glenfield and Melton centres, which support young people with all aspects of care and social skills.
He was keen to contribute towards the running of the centres, after feeling “indebted to them”, for the work they have done to support her.
“It’s a pleasure to help. I do it to support a charity that supports my family and we are very grateful of it”, he said.
“I don’t believe in “free lunches” and if anybody helps us then I feel indebted to them. Praxis Care is great, their setup is brilliant and the staff are awesome. It’s a pleasure to help the guys out with the little bit I can get for them. The service is so needed in the community where people have disabled children, and although my daughter Harriet is non-verbal I have taken the liberty of popping in from time to time (pre-COVID-19) and she is always chilled and relaxed and that is down to the team for which I am very grateful.”
Operated by social care charity Praxis Care, the Glenfield and Melton centres support young people in an inclusive environment, where “engagement and activities to stimulate learning and relaxation” are encouraged.
Registered manager of Glenfield and Melon children’s services, Luke Fowkes-Goodwin says that Mr Crook’s £2,000 donation was completely unexpected.
‘’We are a dedicated compassionate staff team that devotes every second to support children and young people and their families. We are grateful to Steve and his gang for raising a huge amount of money which enables us to spend on the children and young people directly accessing the service,” he said.
“We plan to spend the monies on uplifting the sensory equipment and adding an updated sensory bathroom’’.
Praxis Care supports 1,500 individuals with mental ill health, autism, learning disabilities and dementia.
To find out more, visit: https://www.praxiscare.org/
