Please Help Matt Play Powerchair Football

Hi everyone! I’m raising funds to help my wonderful nephew Matt, who has lived with cerebral palsy since birth and has just had recent bad news. Unable to walk and with restricted mobility in his upper body, Matt relies on a powered wheelchair and lots of help to live an independent life. But this hasn’t stopped him living his life to the full and he loves helping others. Matt works for the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living, helping people who use health and social care services to contribute effectively to shaping social policy. His disability hasn’t dampened his overwhelmingly positive attitude which has been given another challenge recently following diagnosis of testicular cancer. But that’s something he is determined to overcome. And will.  Surgery was completed at the end of October and the prognosis is good.  

 

I gave Matt a passion for football as a kid and in particular, Ipswich Town FC….OK!! PLEASE DON’T SCROLL PAST on the basis of that particular choice! We’re passionate about our club and need all the support we can get! But it’s made him a football fanatic and to play competitive football matches is an unfulfilled dream.

 

Whilst Matt can do almost no sporting activities, powerchair football is something he CAN do and enjoys beyond measure. A carer drives him to his local powerchair football club, Frome Falcons PFC, and playing gives Matt a real sense of achievement and camaraderie as well as allowing increased social interaction especially after shielding through last year’s lockdown. More details of this amazing sport are here: Powerchair Football

 

To give him the best chance of enjoying this exciting community based sport, Matt needs a custom made chair with specific ergonomic support for his posture and disability. He would love to buy a modified Strikeforce power chair, made and imported from the US but this costs £6900 + delivery. If we can raise funds to help him achieve that goal, it will give Matt a chance to compete in a team sport he loves, something his able bodied friends can do so easily with just a ball and some open ground.

 

Matt has had many barriers in his life and cancer is the latest one he is overcoming. Any donation however small would be incredibly welcome as we try and raise enough money to allow a disabled man to play the game he loves with fellow disabled players. When Matt is a member of the Senior World Cup winning England team, you can say ‘I helped make this happen’! Additional Offer… if he becomes an England player, Matt promises to present each donor with an autographed pair of his powerchair football socks (unwashed for maximum immersion in that sweaty changing room feeling. What’s not to love?). Thank you in anticipation for anything you can donate.