A fundraiser has been launched to help a family build a new, safer garden for twins to play in at their Cowie home.
The online charitable effort has been launched to help raise £5000 towards new decking for youngsters Ava and Matthew Burrows.
The nine-year-olds have autism – with Ava also being non-verbal and having severe intellectual disabilities – and parents Erica and Kelly are now hoping to raise the funds to build a safer decking in the garden of the family home, where the pair spend much of their time.
Erica and Kelly had to give up working two years ago to care for the children due to their complex needs. They had worked for the prison service for more than 15 years.
Both Matthew and Ava only sleep for a few hours a night and need a round-the-clock supervision. The pair attend Bannockburn Autism provision.
On the Go Fund Me page, Erica and Kelly said: “We were both burnt out and realised that our children need both their parents 24/7 to help them in this world. As unpaid carers, and having to pay a mortgage, you can imagine how difficult our financial situation is and every little penny that we have spare is used to pay for what the kids need.
"So this is where we really need your help, the kids love the outdoors and are in the garden almost all year round. It’s secure and has almost everything they need in it, but unfortunately we have a large decking area and it’s now at the stage where it is too dangerous for them to play on due to it rotting away.We’re heartbroken that we cannot afford to pay for this ourselves and really don’t like to ask, but it’s essential that this work gets carried out to ensure the safety of the twins and to help them have the play space they need.
“Anyone that has met our children knows how hard we work with them to help them get through each day. Matthew follows rules so much that we couldn’t get respite help during Covid because First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had said no one outside your family was to go into your house. Matthew couldn’t accept that it was OK to have an exception to the rules for his family, so in order to get respite Nicola Sturgeon kindly sent Matthew a video message to tell him it was OK to let the carers come in.”
Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.
The family are hoping to raise £5000 towards the project and are now seeking joiners who could donate their time and talents towards the cause.
Erica this week told the Observer: “Unfortunately the prison service would not grant any of us part time flexible working so we had no choice but to give our jobs up to become full-time carers. As you can imagine, we have went from well paid jobs to next to nothing.
“Our kids spend almost all year round in the garden because it is a safe and secure environment. Over the years we have managed to save and get all that was necessary for the garden, which the kids love. The main part of the garden is covered in decking due to a massive drop that is underneath it and the decking is now rotting away rapidly now and is getting too dangerous for the kids to walk on and also bounce on there trampoline.
“This is going to cost thousands of pounds to replace and unfortunately we just don’t have that kind of money to do it and its vital for the kids to play.”
At the time of going to print almost £900 had been raised towards the goal.
To donate, click here
