There are celebrations at Georgia’s house, where ‘Funding for Georgia’s bedroom and bathroom’ project – which involved extending the existing family home to create a ground floor bedroom and bathroom for Georgia – is now completed and in daily use.
When the family first signed up with Sullivan’s Heroes to make the necessary changes for Georgia – who was 17 years old at the time – her mum explained:
“Georgia is unable to walk, talk, or live independently and requires 24-hour care. She has severe epilepsy, breathing irregularities and sensory disorder. Due to her difficult and frequent epilepsy Georgia needs a quiet space and access to her bed on the ground floor multiple times throughout the day.”
“Georgia needs a quiet space away from our busy family life when she’s recovering from seizures. She is desperate for a ground floor bathroom with suitable bath so that she can bathe in safety. Having a bath is one of the few activities Georgia can still enjoy.”
The plans to give access to a bathroom with a specialist bath for Georgia, with ceiling track hoisting, together with creating level wheelchair access to the property, required £30,000 above the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) awarded for the project to meet the full costs of the works.
Georgia’s mum gives us some further background into Georgia’s requirements:
“Due to having to move house we did not have an appropriate space for Georgia to be safely cared for. We had no hoist or bathroom on the ground floor so had to carry her upstairs to bath her which was dangerous for us and her, due to her severe epilepsy. Her bed was in the dining room attached to the lounge, so she had no place to have any quiet recovery time. We had no wheelchair access to the house so it was a strain physically getting her up steps into the house.”
Undaunted, Georgia’s family set about fundraising and with the aid of multiple donations together with fundraising activities carried out by numerous people, the funds were met to get works underway.
Georgia’s mum kept supporters updated throughout the course of their fundraising, with regular social media updates, including sharing this video of the progress once the works got underway.
Now completed, the adaptation works have brought about huge differences for Georgia, as her mum enlightens us:
“Georgia now has her own sloped access to a side extension which has given her a bedroom and bathroom so that she can have privacy and a safe and quiet environment to relax in."
"Having a hoist and purpose-built bath also makes life much better for Georgia and also for our own physical health.”
“Having a purpose-built area for Georgia has made a huge positive impact on all of our lives as we are no longer struggling in a space not suitable for Georgia’s high level of need.”
Georgia’s mum also highlights the support Sullivan’s Heroes brought to the process along the way:
“Being supported by Sullivan’s Heroes allowed us to reach a lot more kind and generous people over social media who have helped Georgia’s build become a reality. Fiona was brilliant at providing advice around our DFG and some of the battles we faced.”
“Sullivan’s Heroes helped by giving us access to many more funding streams than we were aware of and also by supporting us on the social media page we had people contact us to offer help.”
“Sullivan’s Heroes being a registered charity gave us peace of mind that we were able to raise money in a safe way.”
Georgia’s mum was kind enough to share her thoughts on the benefit which Sullivan’s Heroes provides to families carrying out similar home adaptations:
“Sullivan’s Heroes provides amazing support to families not only by assisting in setting up fundraising pages but also in advising in numerous ways in the really complicated system of DFG’s and the battle families face in raising funds for equipment and other life changing projects which many families need, to provide the right and necessary care.”
