LET’S GO BANANAS FOR THEM

Meet the inspiring young people who will benefit from your donations to this year’s Sunshine Fund campaign

TODAY we are launching our annual campaign to raise funds for children in need in the North East.

The month-long drive will hopefully see £60,000 raised for local kids with disabilities to buy them the pricey equipment they desperately need. But we need YOUR help for that. So let’s Go Bananas! Every day for the rest of June we’ll be running a story about the Chronicle Sunshine Fund appeal.

If you aren’t familiar with the charity, they dedicate their time year-round to raising money to buy specialist equipment for North East kids which makes a massive improvement to their lives.

Go Bananas is its biggest appeal of the year and involves 10 children who have been chosen by a panel out of large number of applicants.

Here we introduce you to the 10 inspiring young people who have been hand-picked to benefit from the donations to this year’s Go Bananas campaign.

These extraordinary kids go through life with tremendous difficulties and one piece of equipment could make a huge change to their lives and those of their families.

Last year’s appeal raised an exceptional £60,000 and they are hoping to match it, if not top it, this year. The equipment needed for these lovely kids is obviously very expensive.

But wouldn’t seeing the smiles on their faces when it makes their difficult lives that tiny bit easier be worth it?

The Sunshine Fund buys the equipment if there is no other way the child can get it.

If it is not available on the NHS, cannot be provided by the council or the families quite simply can’t afford it – that’s where the Sunshine Fund comes in.

That is why Go Bananas is so important.

So we’re urging everyone to get behind the appeal this month and help the fund do their best for the children.

Even the smallest donation can make a difference and there are plenty of ways you can get involved this June.

Caroll Pattison, fund director of The Chronicle Sunshine Fund, said: “We are so excited to be launching our Go Bananas appeal when we hope the amazing generous people of the North East will help us raise £60,000 to support 10 local disabled children.

“We had a fabulous time at the launch event with the families when they told us how the kids would benefit from their specialist equipment. We would love you to join in the fun and go wild, Go Bananas and raise as much money as you can so we can buy all 10 kids their much-needed equipment.”

Phil Steele, general manager of intu Eldon Square, said: “This is the third year that staff at both intu Eldon Square and intu Metrocentre have got behind the Go Bananas appeal, and once again they’ve managed to come up with some

wild and wacky ways to raise funds for this worthy charity that supports local children.

“The Sunshine Fund works all year round to help improve the lives of disabled children by providing them with specialist equipment, and it’s always a humbling experience when I’ve had the honour of meeting up with youngsters benefiting from the fundraising campaign.

“Quite simply, the children would never be able to own the equipment if the Sunshine Fund could not provide it, and it’s our pleasure to be part of the fundraising drive.”

Gavin Prior, general manager of intu Metrocentre, added: “Go Bananas is an event that really puts the ‘fun’ into fundraising!

“Our staff really enjoy being involved in the various fundraising ‘challenges’ but it does get rather competitive at times.

“Last year we hosted and won a wheelchair basketball match, so now the pressure is on to retain our title this year. We’ve also got a lot of runners on our staff and they’ve all signed up for the Fun Run on the Quayside too.

“Everyone appreciates the value of this amazing charity here in the North East, as well as the importance of the Go Bananas campaign, and we all enjoy doing our bit to help.”