NatWest London has so far donated £13,000 to sponsor therapy for three children who attend Brainwave, Louis, Luke and Cady, as part of the national Children’s Charity Brainwave’s Guardian scheme.

NatWest branches from the West End, Mid-Town, Central (including Drummonds and Child & Co), Wimbledon and Kingston areas have all pledged to continue to raise vital funds to support Louis, Luke and Cady, who live in London, to maintain their journey at Brainwave.

Area Managers, along with other team members involved in the relationship, recently visited Brainwave’s Witham Centre, in Essex, to meet their guardian families and to directly see how their donations are helping these children reach their full potential.

Cady, who is five years old, has global developmental delay and has been attending Brainwave for three years. Louis, who is seven years old, has been diagnosed with a chromosomal deletion and has also been attending Brainwave for three years.  Luke, aged ten years old, has global developmental delay and epilepsy and has been attending Brainwave for a year.

A quote from Cady’s family:

“We had a great day with Cady at Brainwave!  She worked with the physiotherapist and speech therapist for four hours - she was pretty exhausted afterwards.  They were thrilled with her progress (she got certificates for independent walking and standing up from sitting) and gave us lots of new things to work on.  I think there's only one thing the same on her programme from last time, everything else is new, which just shows how much she achieved over the last six months.  We are so glad to have Brainwave in our lives.”

The charity currently has 17 South East companies (including NatWest London), Trusts and individuals supporting 20 children through their Guardianship scheme.  It costs Brainwave £3,500 to provide a child, with disabilities and additional needs, with a year of therapy. This includes the loaning of specialised equipment needed to carry out the therapy at home.  A Guardian’s donation covers one year’s therapy costs for a child whose need of support is a priority.

As Guardians, NatWest London receives regular updates on the children’s progress, including which developmental milestones they have reached and the Certificates of Achievement awarded.

NatWest commented:

“NatWest have been supporting Brainwave for over ten years, providing volunteers to help at various events like the annual Santa Dash.  Over the past 18 months, this support has moved onto fundraising and we are so proud to be the guardians of Cady, Luke and Louis. What Brainwave does for the children and their families has truly captured the hearts of many of our staff making us committed to continuing our association with this great charity going forward.”

Lauren Scott, Community Fundraiser at Brainwave, said:

“We are so grateful to NatWest and all our other Guardians.  Every year in the UK thousands of children are born with, or develop, a disability through birth trauma, accidents, genetic conditions, chromosome abnormality or undiagnosed conditions.  The support we receive through this scheme helps us provide these children with the individual physical and educational therapy programmes that they need.”

Article supplied by Anokhi Madhavji