CooperBurnett was delighted to take a table at the recent ‘Sporting Heroes Lunch’ at The Spa Hotel in Tunbridge Wells to mark the 25th anniversary of local charity Tree of Hope. Top sports stars at the event included heroes from the worlds of rugby, cricket and ice dance, such as Chris Cowdrey, Rob Andrew, Jayne Torvill and John Taylor – who were all interviewed on stage.
Tonbridge-based Tree of Hope is a children’s charity and was founded in 1992 by Corinne Gardner, born out of a desire to help children to raise funds for treatments and services not easily available from UK health services.
Currently Tree of Hope supports over 800 families of seriously ill and disabled children in the UK and Ireland who need specialist medical treatment, therapy and equipment.
One of the children Tree of Hope supports is Crowborough-based Louis. He experienced issues in the womb, with Mum Jody spending a long time in hospital during pregnancy. Baby Louis required five in utero blood transfusions and was born seven weeks premature. At five days old, an MRI scan revealed Louis had suffered severe brain damage.
By the age of four, he was given a diagnosis of quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Subsequently meaning all four limbs are affected. Louis cannot sit up, walk or talk independently and has problems eating and drinking. Consequently, he is fed via a gastronomy. Louis requires intensive physio and hydrotherapy to help with the increased tone in his muscles.
For more information, visit: http://www.treeofhope.org.uk/
