WESTBURY mum Carol May is confident a sensory room will be built for her autistic son after being overwhelmed with support from the local community, including from Trowbridge boxer and British champion, Nick Blackwell.
The mother-of-three is looking to raise £10,000 to build the specialist room at her home in Phipps Close for her ten-year-old son, Rossi, who has the mental age of a one-year-old.
The 37-year-old is now planning to hold a family fun day at The Railway Inn pub to raise further funds.
She said: “Fundraising has been going good, we have got about £800-£900 already but when we have done this event we will know how much we have.
“Since it was in the paper we’ve had lots of people getting involved. We had one person offer to do a skydive to raise money and the owners of the Railway Inn were happy to give us the pub for the day. It’s been really nice.
“Nick Blackwell is also going to donate to the raffle as well, but we don’t know what yet, but he has given a team Blackwell signed T-shirt to Rossi and said he will do all he can to help.
“We wanted to do a family event and not just something for adults so we will have bouncy castles, face-painting and bingo for the children."
Taking place at The Railway Inn in Station Road from 6pm on Saturday, a raffle will also be held at the event featuring prizes donated by the community, including day passes to Center Parcs, a Hudl 2 tablet computer from Tesco and food vouchers.
Any funds raised from the event will go towards the room, which will be similar to the one at Trowbridge’s Larkrise Specialist School and will allow Rossi to relax and not harm himself.
“The money has always been the top priority just to get it going and the next stage will be to look at the plans and actually build the room,” added Mrs May.
“A surveyor came out for free to do some plans and everything has been sent through to Wiltshire Council so that is all up and running.
“To start with I thought to myself ‘can it possibly be done?’ but now I feel as though it is going to happen.
“People have been so nice, saying that they hope it happens and it’s good to know that there are some people out there who have a good heart.”
To make a donation, visit https://www.gofundme.com/pudqh0
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