Melksham teenager’s ‘Didi’ race circuit fundraiser

A LOCAL teenager has completed a circuit at Castle Combe Race Circuit in a Didicar to raise money for the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS).  

Katy Gibson, 15, is a news deliverer for the Melksham News in Atworth and Purlpit and has suffered with ear problems and tinnitus since she was just five years old. She completed the challenge for the charity as she feels she understands the difficulties children with hearing problems have.

Katy completed the course in a Didicar which is a self-propelled toy car. She owns her own Didicar having received it as a present two years ago and she is regularly seen riding on it. She is also a regular at the Castle Coombe track and decided to combine two of her favourite things to complete the challenge. In the past she has completed litter picks to raise money for charity and donated to various causes, but has never attempted anything on the scale of the Didicar challenge.

Katy said, “There are quite a few reasons that all piece together as to why I chose to do this challenge. Firstly, it is because of my past as I used to suffer with my ears. I used to get constant tinnitus, ruptured eardrums and loss of hearing, so I am aware of the effects that having ear problems can cause. A second reason is that I have always supported charity work and love seeing results. I enjoy seeing what money can actually do for someone.

“My Didicar is one of my favourite presents and definitely the most used. I also attend the Castle Combe track regularly, so it suddenly occurred to me that the race track was where I wanted to be on my Didicar. Therefore, adding all of these factors together – suffering with my ears, loving charity work, and wanting to do something so bizarre – I thought ‘why not put them all together’, and so I did!

“My family is very proud of me and have offered to help me in any way they can. My parents think it is a wonderful idea to help a charity that is so close to all of our hearts, and I think they are just as bewildered about how I came up with the idea to ride a small plastic car around a two mile track! I think they thought I was joking at first but then I set up my JustGiving page and got a few sponsors, and they realised that I was actually being serious. My grandparents are also supporting me and whatever news I tell them, good or bad, they will always be behind me. My friends have all been very supportive as well. They have all agreed to sponsor me.”

Katy has a fundraising target of £200 and at the time of print had raised £185. To sponsor Katy visit her Justgiving page  www.justgiving.com/Katy-Gibson