HELLESDON SCHOOLBOY GETS ON HIS BIKE TO RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITY WHICH HELPED HIS MUM

A Hellesdon schoolboy has got on his bike to raise money for a Norfolk charity – to say thank you for the support the organisation has given his mum.

14 year-old Matthew Reil once took part in a ten mile sponsored cycle ride in support of the Norfolk & Norwich Association for the Blind, raising £654 for the charity – to add to £200 he raised by taking part in the same event last year.

Now the teenager has set his sights on breaking through the £1,000 mark by taking part in the 2017 Tour de Broads challenge in August.

Matthew’s mum Carol is slowly losing her sight, and has received help and support from the NNAB which has enabled her to lead a full and independent life.

“My mum sometimes used to find it hard to get out of bed in the morning,” said Matthew.  “That was until she started receiving help from the NNAB.  Now she gets up, gets ready and is out of the door by 8.30am to go and volunteer or do classes at the NNAB activity centre three days a week.

“Mum still struggles with her sight loss, but now she feels that she has something to look forward to.  Because of that, I wanted to do something to raise money for the charity to say thank you.”

Matthew’s mum Carol added, “The NNAB has changed my life in the last four years, especially when I met one of their community workers who visit people with sight loss in their home.  She told me about all the equipment that could help me and took me to a few activities which they were running. 

“Now I go in and do arts, crafts and flower arranging, I go on shopping trips and theatre visits, and I also volunteer for them.  My life now has purpose; before I got help from the NNAB, it was so daunting being a mum of this little boy and feeling that I couldn’t cope.  I went to a very dark place”.

Having raised over £800 in the past two years, Matthew is now joining the NNAB team in this year’s Tour de Broads Challenge, which will see hundreds of cyclists tackling a range of distances to raise money for five East Anglian charities, including the NNAB.

• The NNAB is still recruiting cyclists to join its team for the Tour de Broads.  More information at www.tourdebroads.com; anyone interested in joining the NNAB team can call Donna Minto on 01603 629558 or email fund@nnab.org.uk.