A COCKFIELD mother says she is overjoyed after well-wishers helped to raise more than £2,000 at her last ever fundraiser.
Lisa Wood organised a charity night last month with the aim of raising £825 to buy her 20-year-old son, Matthew, a new disability trike.
However, she was left stunned after discovering the event had raised a total of £2,130.15.
Matthew has severe complex needs and epilepsy and requires round-the-clock care. Having raised thousands of pounds over the years for a variety of good causes, Ms Wood decided her final event would be to try to buy her son a new trike.
The Clique charity, which is based in Barnard Castle, made a donation of £825 to cover the cost of the trike. The remainder of the money was raised through the sale of entry tickets and a raffle at the event, which took place at Cockfield Workingmen’s Club on Sunday, August 26.
Ms Wood said: “It was a fabulous night. It was over too quickly. I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. All of the other fundraisers I have done have been for Matthew’s school or charities such as Cancer Research.
“This was solely for Matthew. I feel so thankful and privileged that people could come along and support it – even people who I didn’t know turned up.”
Unfortunately, no members of the Clique were able to attend the event but a letter was sent on their behalf and it was read out on the night.
It read: “We were touched by your article in the Teesdale Mercury regarding your fundraising over the years. We think your final fundraiser to raise money for a disabled trike for your son Matthew is a fantastic cause.
“Please accept our donation of £825 towards the trike for Matthew. We are very sorry we can’t attend your charity fundraising event but hope you have a successful evening and a great time as well.
“We look forward to hopefully meeting you and Matthew in the future and wish you both all the best.”
Mark “Bambi” Worley, who is a member of the Clique, said: “This is the type of thing we do. We would rather buy items than give money and we try to keep all of our donations within the Teesdale area so this was right up our street.
“It makes us feel good knowing that the funds we raise can help people like Matthew.
“It means that he can get the trike that bit quicker.”
Ms Wood said: “I cried when I read the letter out. I did not think there were such generous and thoughtful people like that left in the world. I was really touched because this is for my own.”
In addition to the trike, the money raised will be used to buy an epilepsy smart watch for Vicky Raine, from Butterknowle, plus an epilepsy bed sensor for Matthew.
Ms Wood said: “We rent a sensor for Matthew at the moment but now we have extra funds we can buy one outright. It is an alarm which triggers when Matthew is having a seizure.
“The Clique have helped us and we raised more money than we expected so we wanted to help someone else too.
“In the past Vicky has always come to support my events.
“She suffers with epilepsy. This watch will sense it and send a text message to people when Vicky is going to have a seizure.”
Ms Raine, 29, thanked Ms Wood for her kind gesture.
She said: “It is a life-saver. I was overwhelmed when Lisa told me. I would like to say a huge thank-you to Lisa. It was a lovely surprise.”
