Finn's Fund

The most fantastic news!

The new powerchair for Finn has arrived from the other side of the world! Thank you so much to every single person who helped us reach our goal. Every pound you kindly gave added up, every Facebook and Twitter share helped ... all those miles of walking in the heat and pedaling along cycleways ... all those sales of cakes and ice creams, all that sky diving! Every bit of it helped! We're so grateful for all the help you all gave us. We honestly never expected to be able to raise so much. The difference this chair will make to Finn's everyday life is huge. Adventure awaits! Thank you from all three of us!

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Meet Finn ...
Finn is 13 years old and is physically disabled with a condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (type 2). This is a lifelong genetic condition which causes muscle weakness over his whole body and means that he can't walk or stand. Finn is a keen Scout with the 8th Winchester Scouts and takes an active role in the troop, despite his disability. He gets so much out of Scouting and it's done his confidence the world of good. He is an APL (Assistant Patrol Leader) and takes part in almost all the activities that the rest of the 8th do, including district and summer camps. He uses a powered wheelchair to get about and it's vital for his daily life and freedom. His current powerchair is five years old and is coming to the end of its life. Without a powerchair, Finn's whole world would literally grind to a halt so we're fundraising to buy him a new one.

A wonderful donation from a very special person

£5,000 has been donated by Kevin Holland. He was a simply wonderful man, and much missed Scouter, who I wish we'd known for longer. He lost his battle with cancer this summer but in Kevin's typically kind way, he continues to do something positive which will help Finn literally all day, every day for several years (and maybe even longer). I'm sure he knows what a difference he is making and he'll be looking down at Finn's adventures. He continues to inspire us to try to be as kind as he was. Thank you Kevin and Maxine x 

8th Winchester Cubs went Skydiving!
At the end of October, the 8th Winchester Cubs did a sponsored (simulated!) skydive to support Finn. They did it in a vertical windtunnel which gives the sensation of the real thing! This fearless (crazy?!) Cub pack had a fantastic time! They did their best to help a fellow scout and raised well over £600 towards Finn’s Fund! Thank you Cubs and thank you to the leaders, parents and everyone who kindly sponsored them. 



Other fundraising events 
We've been incredibly lucky to have so much support from so many wonderful people. Two of Finn's fellow Scouts have held cake sales and an ice cream sale, we've had a very generous £2,000 donation from Winchester Rotary Club and there's also been a 100 mile bike ride and 55 mile walk! 

Sponsored walk
In July, five leaders from 8th Winchester Scout troop undertook a sponsored hike to walk 55 miles from Southmoor near Oxford to Winchester. When the walk was planned, they weren’t anticipating the intense heatwave with temperatures soaring to over 30 degrees! Despite this, they covered 30 miles on the first day and 25 on the second, arriving at Winchester Cathedral early evening on Sunday to a welcome party of families and members from the 8th. Thank you so much to each one of you for all those miles and thank you also to everyone who sponsored them! 

The leaders with Finn at the end of the walk:


Arriving at the end after 55 miles! 

Sponsored bike ride
During June, some members of our family cycled the Devon Coast to Coast route to raise money for Finn's powerchair fund! Thank you so much David, Karen and Kayleigh - all your pedalling has helped the total grow! Thank you to everyone who sponsored them. 


More details of what we're fundraising for ...
We're looking to raise a total of around £16,000 for the new powered wheelchair (exact quote currently being obtained) which will be for every day use at school but will also open up Scouting and the outdoors to him much more. Finn has pushed his current chair's capabilities to its limits and taken it to places that this type of wheelchair doesn't ordinarily go! It's done brilliantly but an all-terrain powered chair will help him go so much further.

The main photo, at the top of the page, shows the chair Finn is hoping for and was taken when he had a demo of it recently (this shows the general chair - Finn's would have a few differences to make it more suitable for him and his needs). It's called a Magic Mobility Frontier V6 and is a wonderful and clever balance of being easy to manouvre in tight spaces at school but being robust, stable and with enough power to cope with regular trips through the woods and uneven terrain. The two centre wheels can be easily changed from "town" wheels for school and every day use to larger, rugged, off-road wheels for muddy and rough trips during weekends, school holidays and Scout camps.


The estimate of £16,000 of funding needed is made up of around £15,000 for the new powerchair and around £1,000 to hopefully enable us to take out an extended warranty to keep the chair under warranty for longer. 

Although these costs may seem high if you've never needed to look at powerchair pricing before, they are by no means out of the ordinary, unfortunately. Powerchairs also generally cost around £450 - £500 per year in servicing and insurance. Spinal Muscular Atrophy also causes other problems, such as scoliosis, which means regular seating reviews and changes to seating and supports are vital and they can be costly - new specialist seating can easily cost upwards of £1,200. Although we're not expecting to raise more than the initial amount, in the event of raising extra money, it would be used to cover costs such as these which are a result of Finn's disability.

Fundraising such a large amount is a very daunting task and any donation you can make, no matter how small, would be so gratefully received. Sharing this page would also be very much appreciated. Every penny we can raise will make a difference.

Thank you so much for your time in reading this,

Lou and Andy Eyles - Finn's mum and dad :-)