A FAMILY from Chard has raised £2,000 to help buy specialist equipment for Musgrove Park Hospital’s children’s unit.

The money will be used to buy four specialised seats for children on the ward, after both of the children were cared for by the hospital’s paediatricians when they developed encephalitis – an inflammation of the brain.

The remaining fundraising money will be donated to the Encephalitis Society who offered support after diagnosis.

During Reece’s admission he was given a specialised seating system, but unfortunately there was only one of these seats available, meaning it was only ever available for one child to use at a time.

During our fundraising for an extra chair we were approached by The Ilminster Lions Club and The Jemima Layzell Trust who both pledged money to help fund further seating systems; with the money that they kindly donated a further 3 seats have been purchased, and all four seats were officially unveiled this week.

Lisa said: “Both of my children have had encephalitis and were treated at Musgrove. When my son Reece was admitted he was given a special chair to sit in, this allowed play therapy and movement around the hospital, but we noticed that this was the only chair of its type in the unit.

“We wanted to make sure that as many families as possible could have the positive experience that we had with the specialist chairs so decided to start a fundraising campaign, which included a tombola, bingo, cream tea and music evening along with the generous donations from The Ilminster Lions and The Jemima Layzell Trust.”

Sarah Watson, a physiotherapist at Musgrove Park Hospital, said: “We are so grateful to Lisa and everyone who has helped raise money to buy these specialist chairs, which will be of huge benefit to the children who use our unit.

“The chairs have so many benefits for children and means that those with a respiratory condition don’t need to lay on their back, which helps them breathe easier. It also helps those with brain injuries to interact better, which also improves their general development.

“The chairs are well loved by families and I think it’s great that we can give children that extra bit of normality.”