A Loughborough charity that offers a range of support services to children with motor dysfunctions, Cerebral Palsy and Down’s Syndrome and their families, is set to have its funding boosted by us.

Steps Conductive Education Centre is the latest recipient of Community Champions funding from our North Midlands region. The national match-funding initiative seeks to support groups and charities working to improve the quality of life or environment for people across the region.

The charity, which supports families with therapy sessions to maximise child potential, was in desperate need of funding after adapting their services to accommodate members online. Trish Mabbott, from the charity, said: “The £1,000 donation means a great deal to us and will help us to continue our work. In March this year we had to close our face-to-face service due to Covid-19 and within a week we adapted our services to online sessions, which have had an incredible impact on our families. We have all the family joining in daily sessions and it has been a tremendous support to those families shielding, providing a lifeline and interaction with others. This money will go towards providing every family with a magic resource box of sensory equipment they can use at home to make their online sessions easier. Thank you, Persimmon Homes North Midlands, for supporting our service.”

Nadine O’Dowd, sales director, said: “We are delighted to show our support for such a wonderful community charity. It’s extremely comforting to know that the money donated to the group will help provide vital equipment to assist with online support sessions. If people were unsuccessful in their Community Champions application, we urge them to visit the Persimmon Homes website and to try again, hopefully they will become our next recipient.”

Organisations can apply for funding by completing a simple online form.