Children receive presents from special needs charity

MORE than 400 children received a Christmas gift at Camp Mohawk in Wargrave following a £2,000 charity donation.

The Berkshire Freemasons awarded the funding to the charity in Highfield Lane, which supports disabled children and their families.

It meant children who receive care at the centre could visit Father Christmas in a specially adapted “gazebo” grotto which was held outside in the site’s grounds.

The grotto was wheelchair accessible and open on one side to help children who find enclosed spaces challenging.

Gifts handed out included padel tennis sets, toiletries, socks, perfume and fleecy blankets for those who use a wheelchair. Father Christmas was able to communicate to the children with those who were non-verbal using basic Makaton sign language.

Davina Turnbull, corporate and community fundraiser, said the grotto was a “precious opportunity” for her son George, who has lobar holoprosencephaly, a genetic condition which causes developmental delays.

She said: “As a parent, knowing you’re not going to be judged or thought badly of if your child doesn’t get excited by the present or doesn’t look at Father Christmas with eye contact or sits on the floor and won’t leave the room is really reassuring.

“This is the only grotto that George has ever been to and it’s really important to me as a mum because I wouldn’t be able to do that anywhere else.”