Portrait of Hope
Meet Aiza and Subhaan
Aiza and Subhaan are siblings, aged 12 and 8, respectively and live with Dravet Syndrome, a neurological disorder, causing very severe complex epilepsy and development delay. They are both wheelchair bound and require 24-hour care from their parents and specialist carers for all their needs. Day to day life is challenging and unpredictable for both Aiza and Subhaan. Their seizure management is uncontrollable and life threatening and so they are very limited to their indoor environment, impacting their health and wellbeing on top of their condition.
The siblings for a long time have had no safe access to their garden which was especially challenging in lockdown as their vulnerabilities made things even harder than it was for most, especially for Aiza and his added respiratory issues. Sensory activity is something Aiza and Subhaan benefit from hugely, so the family wanted to a provide a safe access to the outdoor space to allow them to sense the tranquillity and calmness of nature as they have never had the opportunity to do so in their garden ever.
Since they joined Tree of Hope, the family have had a platform that has enabled them to connect and raise awareness within their Muslim community who rallied round and helped their fundraising mission.
“Tree of Hope provide a great platform, before, we had no hope, we just couldn’t see it happening. Being an established charity, we had the stability for friends, neighbours, organisations to all take part and help us. They played a big part in the success of the project; without Tree of Hope, we wouldn’t have reached our goal. It felt really daunting to go about it, but we had the support and the team to talk to and it turned into a straightforward journey, I just wish other families knew about it so they could reach their goals.”

Aiza and Subhaan had their garden constructed in Spring 2024 which has significantly impacted their health, well beings as well as family life.
“Now we have had the garden done, it has just been amazing. Before this project, we’ve never been able to spend time as a family of five outside and we always felt very segregated from each other. The children had no access to the garden at all, so it’s just been such a positive relief and it’s been an amazing summer. They would have both had a chest infection by now as they are very prone to these, but they are happy, they are sleeping better, they’re health has already improved hugely, the difference has been unbelievable.