Gaming centre gives help to Dudley girl

Wheelchair provided to aid mobility.

Thanks to the joint fundraising efforts of customers and staff at Cashino Brierley Hill in Dudley sixteen-year-old Rachel Wood has been presented with a new powered wheelchair that will allow her to participate in school activities and reach her physiotherapy targets.

Cashino, which operates 171 adult gaming centres across the country, is one of the main fundraisers for CHIPS, a charity set up on behalf of the casino and gaming industry, which aims to provide specialised powered wheelchairs for children with severe mobility problems.

Rachel, who lives in Dudley with her parents, Kelly and Dave, older sister Melissa and younger brother Luke, suffers from Cerebral Palsy, which is a lifelong condition that affects movement and co-ordination, and mainly impacts Rachel’s legs and arms.

Rachel’s mum, Kelly Wood said: “Rachel really enjoys being as physically active as she can, but had outgrown her old chair, which was having a really negative impact on her life. Now though, thanks to the amazing people at Cashino, she’ll be able to get back to doing what she loves, both at home and at school, and what’s even better is that she can perform many of the skills necessary to control the powered wheelchair by herself.”

Cashino Brierley Hill venue manager, Tracy Ann Pearson, added: “It’s so rewarding to know that our fundraising efforts are going to make such a huge difference to Rachel and her family’s life. She is such a lovely, friendly girl who thoroughly deserves this wheelchair.”

Co-founder of the CHIPS charity Linda Lindsay commented: “It is so important for CHIPS that our donors see the results of their hard work, and we try to ensure that all the recipients are local to where the funds have been raised. Cashino and parent company Praesepe have been amazing, and to date have donated £820,000 allowing CHIPS to provide more than 150 powered wheelchairs up and down the country.”

In total, CHIPS has raised around £2million and presented around 500 wheelchairs to children throughout the UK.