‘Carlisle to Manchester’ treadmill walk for Carlisle boy with cerebral palsy

A Carlisle gym is helping a local mum to raise £12,000 to help her son Harry, who has cerebral palsy, achieve his dreams.

Harry Calvert, aged 7, wears splints on his right arm and right leg and finds it increasingly frustrating as he gets older. His family want to send him for intensive Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy to help improve his movement and mobility at the end of next month.

Mum Kim Jose, 37, a counter assistant at a butcher’s shop said: ‘Harry can’t use his right hand at all and just wants to be able to do things that other people take for granted.

‘He loves computer games but can’t operate them properly, we don’t even really know if he’s right or left-handed as he can’t use that hand at all.

‘His ultimate aims are to drive a rainbow Ferrari and play football at the Paris St Germain stadium, but he’d dearly love to simply be able to use his limbs in the same way as his friends first.’

The CIMT Centre says he’s the ideal candidate for this kind of therapy and it’s likely to make a huge difference to him. We’re hoping to get him in this year but we have a lot of money to raise first.’

Luke Blaylock, the manager at Snap Fitness Gym in Carlisle, is helping to recruit members to walk the 120-mile distance from Carlisle to Manchester, where Harry hopes to have his treatment, on treadmills.

Other events planned for later in the year include dad Simon Calvert, 40, walking Hadrian’s Wall with some friends and Kim taking on her second skydive with five friends aged 16 to 59.

The family is being supported by children’s charity Tree of Hope, which helps families raise money for children and young people like Harry for medical treatments and healthcare services not freely available to them through the NHS and social care. The charity provides fundraising guidance, campaign development, financial management, charity registration and emotional support from the Family Support team. Families like Harry’s benefit from gift aid, corporate support while also providing donor reassurance.

To learn more about Harry or to donate to the ‘Give Harry a Helping Hand’ fund, visit https://www.treeofhope.org.uk/get-involved/childrens-campaigns/giving-harry-a-helping-hand/