Step it up for Steps week

STEPS Conductive Education Centre in Leicestershire helps children aged from birth to five years who are born with celebral palsy, Down syndrome or other motor dysfunctions. It is a fantastic facility, offered free to families of these very special children. The conductive education, based on the principles created by the Peto Institute in Hungary, enables the children to progress physically and mentally and the results are astonishing.

STEPS was formed some 15 years ago by a few families in Leicestershire, including George and Heather Crate who’s grandson Shaun had been born four years previously with Cerebral Palsy. In fact, Shaun’s condition was described as being so serious by doctors that they said he wouldn’t even be able to turn over in bed. Family and friends set about raising funds to send Shaun to the Peto Institute in Hungary on three separate occasions. Each trip cost £10,000. But the progress in Shaun was dramatic and today Shaun is 18 years old and has just completed a course at Brooksby Agricultural College, and over the last year Shaun has been helping out John, our gardener at Quorn, on work-experience. Shaun is an inspiration to us all and next week he goes for training in readiness for the arrival of –Hooch, his new ‘dog-for-the disabled’.

STEPS was created to help and support other families by providing the amazing teaching and benefits of the Peto, but here in Leicestershire – available to any child who needs help in the East Midlands. I have been Patron of the charity since its inception and I, along with the wonderful Trustees, staff and parents, work hard to raise the £200,000 needed every year to keep the school going. To illustrate how highly respected STEPS is, this year STEPS were thrilled to be awarded a grant from BBC Children in Need for £60,000 a year for three years towards staff costs.

But we still need to raise £140,000 p.a. and the STEP IT UP FOR STEPS WEEK is designed to raise the public awareness of the wonderful facility at STEPS, raise funds and welcome people to STEPS to see how the school works, and how it also helps the older children, even after they leave to go to mainstream school at age five.

Tomorrow Central ITV News will be visiting STEPS as they have played a major role in getting STEPS on its feet. Two years ago, after we had managed to purchase the building, Central helped us facilitate a complete a total makeover of the derelict school building when 130 companies gave goods and services worth in excess of £500,000 completely free. Hopefully, STEPS will be featured on tomorrow’s 6 o’clock news on Central publicising our special week of activities.

The money raising initiatives we have planned include an Art Exhibition of abstract paintings by Mike Rimmington (my husband), with all proceeds of sales to go directly to STEPS; we will be selling a selection of our family silverware on eBay, and on Thursday we are holding an Open Day at STEPS when people can come and have some fun with us as they see how many times they can step on and off a Reebok step in 60 seconds; get weighed on our magic scales that tell you everything about yourself; and visitors can eat a low fat cream tea or a low fat bacon serine from Rosie’s Kitchen! We are also putting around 300 gorgeous teddy bears out across the nation in the hope that folk will pay £1 each to name him. We still have 50 teddies left so if you would like one, together with poster for people to write in their name, we will be delighted to send you one. You just send us the £45 after you have managed to sell for £1 each all 45 names that are printed on the poster. (Call our Teddy Hotline and speak to Alison on our office number 01509 620222).

We are also hoping that some folk will be kind enough sign up to our monthly pledge request. If we can get say 1000 kind souls to pay just £2 a month by Standing Order, it would make a real difference. We have pledge forms which we would be delighted to send out. Just drop me an email at rosemary@rosemaryconley.com and we’ll get one in the post to you.

So, my week is going to be a bit different from usual. I really, really hope that by this time next week we will have raised the profile of STEPS, raised some much needed funds and had some fun along the way. If you can support STEPS in any way, THANK YOU!