Annette Brooke MP supports "Don't push me around!" report

4.42.55pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 21st Jun 2006

Annette Brooke, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole today announced her support for the new report "Don't push me around!" published by children's charities Whizz-Kidz and Barnardo's.

The report was presented to Downing Street on the 31st May and highlights how a lack of money and an NHS postcode lottery - which dictates when and if children get a wheelchair - are having a disastrous impact on disabled children across the UK.

Annette Brooke has supported a parliamentary motion (EDM 2317) which backs the report findings and calls for the government to ensure that disabled children are given the right mobility equipment to meet their needs. The EDM urges the government to give greater priority within current budgeted departmental spending to ensure that all disabled children have access to appropriate wheelchairs.

Annette Brooke said:

"I am delighted to be supporting the report, "Don't push me around!" which highlights the difficulties children and young people face in getting the right wheelchair at the right time. It is essential that disabled children get the mobility equipment they need."

As a result of the lack of funding, parents are being encouraged by the NHS wheelchair services to seek charitable support to get the right mobility equipment for their children.

Julie Searle, mum of Jessica (12) comments:

"Our local wheelchair service provided Jess with heavy, bulky wheelchairs that gave her no independence at all. We know, in hindsight, that Jess lost valuable time during the years spent in NHS Wheelchairs. It was during these "lost" years that she acquired "learned helplessness" caused by her inability to move herself around and it has been very had to reverse the damage this has caused."

"Disabled children need to have the right start in order to achieve their full potential. It is vital that mobility equipment is allocated at the earliest age to maximise learning potential and that it is tailored around the child, not the other way round, as was our experience with the NHS wheelchair service."

There are over 70,000 disabled children in the UK for whom the provision of the right wheelchair could make a critical difference giving them the freedom to get around and fully enjoy childhood; from going to mainstream school to being able to play with their friends and family.

To help us change more disabled children's lives, call 020 7233 6600, or visit www.whizz-kidz.org.uk .

ENDS

For more information about Whizz-Kidz please contact:

Fiona Craig on T: 020 7798 6103 or E: f.craig@whizz-kidz.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

• About Barnardo's

Barnardo's helps over 120,000 of the UK's most vulnerable children and young people have a better start in life, and the chance of a better future.

The charity has 60 projects which cater for the needs of disabled children.

• About Whizz-Kidz

Whizz-Kidz changes disabled children's lives - literally overnight. By providing them with customised mobility equipment, training and advice, we actually give them something much more important. We give them the independence to live a life of freedom at home, at school and at play: the independence to be themselves.

We need your help to change their lives. Whizz-Kidz has changed the lives of over 4000 disabled children since 1990, but there are still over 70,000 children in the UK who need our support and need it right now. And this can only happen if you help us.