Rugby club and top referee rally round
Royal Borough: Dinner with Nigel Owens will raise funds for Archie
A former Rugby World Cup referee will be among those in attendance at a fundraising evening to raise money for a Holyport youngster with a rare musclewasting disease.
Archie Davies, eight, from Moneyrow Green, was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in August 2017, which causes muscles to weaken.
There is no cure and Archie will eventually be in a wheelchair full-time, with life expectancy reduced to his 20s.
Archie’s aunt Alice has launched a fundraising drive to help improve the family’s life as they care for him, with plans to buy a hydrotherapy pool in the back garden.
This would make Archie feel more comfortable and give him more physical freedom, offering pain relief and relaxation due to the weightless feeling of being in water.
The family has been making use of the same facility at Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice in Maidenhead.
The cost of funding a therapy pool and associated accessibility works is expected to reach £35,000, and a GoFundMe page has been set up by Alice to make this dream a reality, with £19,000 already raised.
To aid the fundraising effort even further, a dinner will be held at Maidenhead Rugby Club in Braywick Road, with all proceeds going to the hydropool fund.
Guests will be joined by Nigel Owens, a former Welsh international rugby referee, who enjoyed a 17-year career in the sport.
He will be talking about his experiences refereeing at rugby world cups, coming out as openly gay in a maledominated sport and why mental health matters in sport.
Businesses have donated prizes to be part of a raffle on the night, which will also feature an auction on Friday, December 2.
Archie’s mum, Beccy, told the Advertiser that she has been shocked by people’s generosity ahead of the event next month.
“My sister wanted to do something that was focused on Archie’s here and now, so she came up with this idea to get a hydropool,” she said.
“I thought there was no way we would get that target but I was definitely on board with the idea, but it really spiralled and we have raised a lot of money already, which is incredible.
“The dinner sold out really quickly and was really well received, Nigel Owens is quite a big draw to people.
“People’s generosity is phenomenal – there is not really a word for it.”
Beccy added: “It is amazing how it has grown from just an idea to it really happening. I think when Archie got diagnosed it was all about finding a cure.
“But I think over the years we are a bit more realistic and it has been a shift of focus, and whether a cure is found within Archie’s lifetime or not, we actually have to live his life.
“Hydrotherapy is really positive and for Archie, being in water that is warm can not only help his muscles work but it is pain relief as well. He loves swimming and being in the water.”
The family recently moved to a new house in Holyport better equipped for a wheelchair user, and Beccy said her son experiences good and bad days as he battles the disease.
“On the bad days it is the aching of the muscles and after a day at school he is quite exhausted,” she said. “He just grits his teeth and gets on with it. We are just taking each day as it comes, really.”
Visit www.gofundme. com/f/archied to support Archie’s appeal.