EDC
is a small local charity which purchases specialised equipment to help
local disabled children. All the money comes from fund-raising
and donations and, apart from very small amounts used for essential
costs, it is all used to provide help to the children. The
Charity is run entirely by unpaid volunteers.
EDC gives help to local disabled children who live or attend school in
the West Surrey area, or are under the care of the Royal Surrey County
Hospital Children’s Unit in Guildford.
EDC provides equipment to disabled children to make their lives as full
as possible. The equipment enables children to live more
comfortably, to play in more creative ways alongside their peers and
siblings, to learn more easily or to enjoy more mobility.
The equipment provided by EDC is always approved by a professional in
the child’s medical caring team to ensure that the item purchased
is the most appropriate for the child’s needs. Because the
equipment is usually so specialised, and is either tailor-made or
adapted exclusively for the child concerned, it is more often than not
much more expensive than standard ‘off-the-shelf’
products. For example, tricycles are frequently recommended and
give children independence, exercise and the ability to play on equal
terms with other children. They cost on average about £800
each. Normally, because of budget limitations or other
restrictions, such equipment is either not available from the Health,
Education or Social Services or would be so delayed that the necessary
benefit to the growing child would be lost.
Because each child’s need is different, each applicant receives
individual attention. Apart from trikes, other examples of
equipment provided in the recent past include walking aids, car seats,
other specialised seating systems and buoyancy aids to encourage the
children to swim as independently as possible.
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