AFTER months of fundraising events and donations, work can now begin on much-needed home improvements for Melksham boy Liam Collins.
Friends and family of five year-old Liam Collins have been fiercely fundraising since October last year, to raise £10,000 to build a downstairs bedroom and wet room in his home. Following a family fun day at JD Wetherspoon in Melksham, they have exceeded the target and work can now begin.
Liam has X-linked ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder that reduces a person’s ability to sweat.
He has multiple disabilities which affect his learning and development. He is also severely sight impaired, is non-verbal, has to be fed by a feeding tube and has epilepsy.
Julie, Liam’s mum said, “Having his bedroom and a wet room on the ground floor will be a big help because having to carry him up and down the stairs is becoming very difficult the older he gets. It means so much to us as a family to have all this sorted for him.
“We would like to say thank you to Gayle at Wetherspoon’s for all her support, The Ray Jones Band and El Niño for giving up their time to play at Liam’s fundraiser, all our friends who manned a stall in the hot weather, and to all those who came down and supported our event. We hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.”
Jon Buckle, who also bravely had his back waxed at the fun day, raised £186. He said, “I will never do it again as it was really painful, but it was a pleasure doing it for little Liam.”
Kylie Bewley who organised the fun day said, “I would like to thank our local community who have supported us. You have all been amazing and you need to know that because of you, Liam will get everything that he needs.
“I would also like to thank all the businesses who got behind this event, there were so many generous contributions that I couldn’t possibly name them all, but a list will go up on Liam’s Facebook page very soon.
“The fun day was amazing and I’d like to thank Gayle so much for her support throughout. Even when problems cropped up, she just ploughed on.
“Special thank you to the bands, especially Matthew, who saved the day at the last minute.
“All raffle winners and auction winners will be contacted in the next week.
“It’s been a pleasure being on team Liam!”
