Beneficiaries

Playtime thanks to your cash

Liam Newing, nine, has severe autism and cannot play with toys, even adapted ones, as he either throws or chews them.

However, Liam, from Westerhope, who does not speak and suffers from extreme anxiety, has always loved being in sensory rooms, appearing to relax in them.

Liam would even smile, which, heart-breakingly, he did not do often because of his problems.

After being contacted by his gran Brenda Blake who assists his mum and dad, Brenda and Jim, and sister Nicole, eight, with Liam’s care, the Sunshine Fund agreed to provide sensory equipment for the youngsters to use at home.

Brenda, of Mortimer Avenue in Newbiggin Hall, said: “It is terrible to see such a young person with so much anxiety, and the sensory equipment helps alleviate it.

“He was taken to the Lightfoot Center, where they have sensory equipment, and we discovered he liked it and it seemed to relax him, but when I got the catalogue it was so expensive there was no way we could afford it.

“The Sunshine Fund has been fantastic, the staff have been so helpful. When we got the equipment Liam’s dad realised he could not fit it, so the Sunshine Fund contacted someone at St Oswald’s Hospice in Gosforth who came out and fitted it for free. It would normally have cost £80,000 for the specialist fitting.

“Liam is so disabled mentally he does not know how to play with normal toys, even adapted ones, so it means he has a place of his own with things to keep him occupied. He used to be hyperactive before going to bed but now this helps him calm down.”

Items of sensory equipment Thomas Beswick School pupil Liam has received include a projector, bubble tubes and sensory snuggle cushions.

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