Thatcham family's joy after successful fundraising for daughter

Family and friends raise more than £3,000 for special trike

“THE smile on her face when she’s on her bike is worth every penny.”

Those were the happy words of a Thatcham mother after friends and family raised more than £3,000 for her disabled daughter.

Five-year-old Paige Cullum has arthrogryposis, a general term for the development of non-progressive contractures in the body.

The contractures lead to joints becoming permanently fixed in position, resulting in restricted movement.

Little Paige also has scoliosis, an abnormal twisting or curvature of the spine, and global developmental delay meaning that some important skills learnt in childhood have not yet been reached.

Her mother, Lisa Cullum, said that the family had to do everything for Paige and she is essentially paralysed from the waist down.

To help their daughter to improve her mobility, the family looked into buying a specially-built trike.

But they baulked at the £3,300 price tag for the custom-built machine.

“£3,300 for a bike is a lot of money. We can’t go out and buy her a bike like any other child,” Mrs Cullum said.

“Every child deserves the right for a bike. Just because they are disabled doesn’t mean that they can’t have one.”

Determined to help Paige the family set about fundraising and set up an online fundraising page.

Mrs Cullum even abseiled down The Orbit at London’s Olympic Park, the UK’s highest freefall abseil.

Further funds came from Mr Cullum’s workplace Hitachi Capital, based off Kiln Road in Newbury.

The financial services company held its own fundraising day for the cause and then match-funded the family’s funds.

After six months of fundraising Paige set off on her new trike in March.

A delighted Mrs Cullum said: “The smile on her face when she’s on her bike is worth every penny.

“She can go out with her brothers and chase them on her bike rather than sitting and watching.”

The family thanked everyone who donated towards giving Paige happiness and independence, especially Hitachi.

“Without them we wouldn’t have gotten there,” Mrs Cullum said.

However, the Cullum’s fundraising continues for a family friend.

As well as going down The Orbit, Mrs Cullum also abseiled down the Spinnaker Tower to raises funds towards a special bike for Thatcham boy Spencer Burnell.

Spencer has autism, sensory processing disorder and hypermobility and his family are trying to raise £2,000 for a trike.

Find out more and make a donation by visiting crowdfunding.justgiving.com/chris-burnell