Copyright expressandstar
Although dressing up as your favourite character on Halloween is lots of fun, for children with disabilities who use a wheelchair it can be difficult to incorporate it into their chosen theme. But the wheelchair covers given away by Newlife can make the whole experience extra special. Around 100 wheelchair covers have been sent out to children, on a first come, first served basis, completely free of charge to the families Newlife work with. Children have been able to choose from joining the Frozen crew on Elsa’s Ice Nokk horse, riding in Cinderella’s enchanting carriage or boarding Buzz Lightyear in a space rocket. Other options families could choose included Minnie Mouse in her hot pink car, Mr Incredible’s super powered wheels or speed along with the Halo Infinite Warthog tank. The wheelchair covers will fit most standard manual wheelchairs and the remaining wheelchair covers were then shared more widely to make Halloween more inclusive to everyone – with over 200 families applying for the remaining wheelchair covers. Newlife receives donated stock from hundreds of High Street stores which is then sold across all nine of Newlife stores across the country, as well as their eBay and online stores. Becky Smith, Newlife’s Head of Charitable Services, said: “When we saw the wheelchair covers, we knew they would be perfect for so many of the children with disabilities and their families that have turned to Newlife for wheelchairs – and thought it would be a great giveaway to help make Halloween more inclusive. “We had an amazing response from the families we work with, and the giveaway was then opened up across our social media to other families with children who are wheelchair users, meaning nearly 100 different wheelchair covers were quickly snapped up. “Some of the comments we received about the giveaway were wonderful and said what an amazing initiative this was. In the same way our school uniform giveaways and offers have been so successful, if we are able to meet the needs of families with disabled children to make life a little easier, or help out families local to our stores when uniform prices can be so high, we will seize the opportunity.”
