Staff and pupils at Victoria School recently celebrated the arrival of a ‘Dream’ delivery, in the form of six specially adapted trikes that have been donated by national Charity, Dreams Come True.

Victoria School in Northfield is a community special school maintained by Birmingham City Council, catering for the needs of 230 students aged from 2 to 19 years who have cognition and learning difficulties, physical disabilities and complex health needs.

Many of the students also have profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) and the school also incorporates a specialist Multi-Sensory Unit (MSI) for children who have a sight or hearing impairment.

The adapted trikes, manufactured by specialist supplier Tomcat, will give the students at the school an opportunity to experience both play and exercise that will encourage coordination, balance and motor skills, as well as helping to promote general physical and mental wellbeing.

The school mentioned that many of their students would not be able to afford an adapted trike for home use as they are expensive specialist equipment, so having them at the school would give students an experience they would otherwise miss out on without this dream.

The school believe that the trikes will be able to be used by many of the children at the school across a range of physical disabilities, learning difficulties and even complex health needs.

The six trikes will help to build on the very special community feel of the school, in allowing greater socialisation, exercise and interactive play.

Head of Bespoke Fundraising, Shelley Thompson from Dreams Come True Charity stated, “We are absolutely delighted to be able to make this donation to Victoria School, as we can see that the trikes will make a hugely positive impact in the school for many years to come and across hundreds, if not thousands of childrens’ lives. We can see that the school staff, Governors and parents have built up a wonderful and supportive environment in which the children love to attend and we hope the addition of these trikes will only enhance the daily experience of the students.”

Established in the early eighties, the charity, Dreams Come True have previously made the dreams come true of individual children and young people with serious or life limiting conditions, from the most deprived areas of the UK.

The Community Dreams initiative is a relatively new concept for the charity, but one they are rolling out across disadvantaged communities in the UK, in an aim to help positively impact more seriously ill children and young people. These dreams vary from specialist mobility equipment to other types of sensory equipment, all tailored depending on the needs of their recipients.