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Meet 7-year-old Daisy Dawes from North Tyneside, who we funded an iPad Pro and Otterbox.
Daisy is a lively little character who is full of personality and, like many children, loves reading books and listening to stories, taking photos, and playing games.
This young girl was born with an eye condition called Aniridia and Nystagmus, which means she has no iris, and her Mum, Beth, also has a visual impairment, too.
The family had a tablet but it was slow and didn’t meet Daisy’s needs, as it was lacking the accessibility features required that are only available with the iPad Pro. This became more needed as Daisy’s passion for reading amplified, and they realised she would need her books in an electronic format so she could magnify the letters and words.
Beth spoke to Daisy’s QTVI and SENDCO who both agreed that the iPad Pro would be suitable for her needs, to support her learning and development both at school and at home, and so she applied to The Sunshine Fund.
We fund specialist equipment for babies, children and young people living with disabilities and additional needs in the North East. The equipment they fund is not available on the NHS, yet can significantly improve the daily lives of local families.
Our ethos is that every child deserves the chance to play, grow, and dream, and too many kids in the region are missing out because they lack the essential equipment they need, due to the high prices or because it isn’t available through statutory services.
Since receiving the iPad, Daisy is thriving; the family have been able to download e-books from the RNIB Bookshare platform, which has opened them up to a library of books and stories. These are available in a range of accessible formats that can be read electronically or adapted to suit the needs of the reader. In the evening, when she’s tired, she can set it to just one or two words per page, so that she’s not straining her eyes.
In addition, she has visual access to text, pictures and websites, with a larger screen to accommodate a larger font size. She plays games and she uses it to photograph things she would normally struggle to see, and she uses ‘Seeing AI’, an app that can capture Daisy’s surroundings, giving her a verbal description so she doesn’t miss out on day-to-day life.
The Otter Case provides more robust protection of the iPad, so Daisy can transport it to and from school safely, and the durability means it will have long-life use.
Perhaps most importantly though, having her own iPad Pro allows her to enjoy the same things that her peers can, and live a fulfilling childhood. Trivial things like reading a book, taking a photo, playing a game – things many of us take for granted, yet for children like Daisy, can only be accessed through adaptations or specialist equipment, which comes at a price.
The Sunshine Fund is a small charity that receives zero statutory funding, and relies solely on the generosity of its donors. All donations made over the festive season will be used to fund the specialist equipment that has been applied for in the last quarter – totalling almost £40,000.
Any donation made directly to our Big Give fundraising page between 2nd – 9th December will be magically doubled at no extra cost to the donor, meaning you can make twice the impact. Make a difference today: https://bit.ly/big-give-tcsf.
Watch Daisy’s full story below: