H&L Garages is Echoes’ charity champion!
Children with disabilities and their families from Hull, East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire have received a welcome boost from local Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle dealer H&L Garages, in the shape of a stylish new Vito van.
H&L has loaned the vehicle on a long-term basis to charity group The Echoes Foundation– the keys to the Mercedes-Benz Vito 111CDI were handed over to Echoes Director Claire Stockton by H&L’s Garry Marsh.
And now, says Claire, the charity will be able to take its vital support work out on the road.
The Echoes Foundation volunteers and supporters worked for over a year to raise the funds that enabled them to open their dedicated therapy centre, on Hessle Road, Hessle, in August 2009.
Three members of staff and a team of four volunteers operate specialist sensory, parent resource, parental support and alternative therapy treatment rooms. But for Claire this is just the tip of the iceberg, as The Echoes Foundation want eventually to offer a hydrotherapy pool, a music therapy room, and much more at the centre.
The effort will not stop there though. “The fact that we were able to get our centre up and running so quickly, thanks to the generosity of local people and businesses, was fantastic,” enthuses Claire.
“But lots of children out there are simply too ill to travel. We knew we had to do something to help them, and that meant finding a van which would transport portable sensory therapy equipment for our ‘It Makes Sense’ project.
“We couldn’t afford to buy one, of course, so I started calling local vehicle dealers to see whether anyone could help us out. I was knocked back a few times before H&L came up trumps!”
She continues: “The Vito is superb, and looks great with our name and logo across the front and sides. Thanks to H&L we’ll now be able to help improve the quality of life of dozens of children who would otherwise miss out.
“But of course, we won’t r est on our laurels – now that we have the wheels, we’ve launched a drive to raise £20,000 to buy even more equipment that can be used to support local families.”
H&L Garages’ Group Light Commercial Vehicle Sales Manager Garry Marsh says: “We get a lot of approaches from charitable groups looking for support but unfortunately we can’t help them all. In this case, though, we felt particularly strongly that we wanted to get involved.
“Claire originally approached us to see if we could put together a good deal for a used vehicle, but as we got talking I started to think this was an opportunity for us to give something back to our local community in a very worthwhile way.
“Everyone at H&L has been highly impressed with the excellent work that The Echoes Foundation does with local families, and with the sheer hard work and determination that Claire and her team have put in to build such a success ful operation.”
Claire founded The Echoes Foundation in 2008, following the birth of her son Finley. He suffers from a still-undiagnosed brain condition which means he is unable to walk, talk, sit, stand or crawl.
Having experienced at first hand the difficulties faced by children with special and additional needs, and their families, she determined she would work to help both Finley and others in the same situation.
For more information, or to make a donation, visit the charity’s website echoesfoundation.co.uk.
