SPARKLE Appeal is urging more people to donate money to help them raise £10,000 for an ‘equipment library’ to help disabled children.

We launched the appeal last week, which aims to provide the Serennu Children’s Centre in Newport with specialised equipment for children with a disability.

The appeal centres on a piece of equipment called TinyTRAX, a powered wheelchair which could enable children from 20 months up to eight years to learn the foundation skills required for driving an electric wheelchair in a fun and personalised way.

Director of TinyTRAX Simon Halsey said: “One of the main benefits of TinyTRAX is that they are the lightest power chairs available and they are very transportable, which gives a lot more freedom to the family and the child.

“The other benefit is obviously the image. We wanted to create something that looked good, something where other children can say ‘oh wow, that’s cool’ and because it is in a range of different colours the child can choose how they want it to look.

“It was important to develop something that didn’t look daunting to the child or swamped them in terms of size.”

20 TinyTRAXs have been sold, at around £6,000 each and could improve a child’s development, confidence and independence.

Since we launched the appeal, which aims to provide the Serennu Children’s Centre in Newport with specialised equipment for children with a disability, they have raised just under £500 as well as the £2,000 donated by Greggs.

Lisa Pearson, business development manager at Sparkle said: “We are very grateful for all the money that has been raised so far, but we are really urging more people to donate.

“We we understand that money is tight during the Christmas period, but we want to be able to buy as much as we can for the children and some of our equipment is over £2,000 each,” she said.”

To donate, text SGCF14 and then the amount you wish to donate to 70070. For example, text SGCF1410 to donate £10. Donations can also be made by calling the Sparkle office on 01633 748092 and ask to speak to Lisa Pearson.