Hi, my name is Mandy, and I’m looking for funding support toward a ‘forever chair’ for my daughter.

Emma will be 21 next week — a fully fledged grown-up. She is amazing. Having gone through so much in her life, she has cerebral palsy, this hasn’t stopped her being funny, awesome, brave, resilient, confident, patient and just brilliant.

Emma is adventurous — from Iceland to Jamaica, she’s seen the world, always manually moved from chair to bed to seat to wherever she is going. She still weighs only 20kg because of her past medical issues, so she’s still carried — but now she’s getting too heavy to keep doing this. More importantly, she no longer wants to be carried through life.

She needs a grown-up wheelchair that she can drive herself (eventually), and can stand in, sit in and even lie down.

This chair also means that by standing at eye level she should be seen as the intelligent adult she is, and not the ‘argh bless’ doll she is viewed as by some when we are out and about.

This sort of chair is not available on the NHS. I’ve found a company that will custom build a perfect chair for her, and will adapt it for her as she grows. This will provide her with so much independence, improve social engagement, and — as an added bonus — help my back.

But it’s expensive, around £15,000, so I’m asking for help.

If you can contribute any amount, you’ll be helping give Emma the freedom, visibility, and adulthood she deserves.

Thank you so much for reading and for being part of her journey.