Cheyne Charity

13/02/2026

We’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to Bly Twomey for her incredibly kind donation to The Cheyne Charity.

Bly is just 15 and already an inspiration. After winning medals at the 2024 Paralympics and becoming the youngest ever Paralympic table tennis medallist, she has chosen to use her success to give back. Each year she supports a charity close to her heart, and we are so grateful that this year she has chosen to support children with cerebral palsy through Cheyne.

Your generosity and thoughtfulness mean a great deal, Bly — thank you for helping us continue to support children and families who need it.

If you’d like to follow Bly’s journey and see what she’s achieving next, do take a look at her Instagram page and show your support bly_tabletennis 💙🩷

https://www.instagram.com/bly_tabletennis?igsh=ZjU1MjNkZ3k0Mmhk

23/01/2026

Trustee Appointments

We’re seeking new trustees with a range of skills and lived experience to help shape the future of our charity.

As a Trustee, you’ll play a direct role in how we support children and young people with cerebral palsy, helping more families access therapy, specialist equipment, and practical support that improves everyday life.

Interested in finding out more? Visit our website:

https://www.cheynecharity.org/trustees

20/01/2026

We’re pleased to share the following event led by Aideen Blackborough, an accessibility and inclusion consultant, parent, and adult with lived experience of cerebral palsy.

Aideen is offering a thoughtful, supportive session for parents that draws on her own life experiences to provide reassurance, perspective, and a longer-term view of growing up with cerebral palsy.

This session is designed to be gentle, pressure-free, and grounded in lived experience rather than advice or comparison, and we hope it will be a valuable space for parents who may simply want to listen, reflect, and feel less alone.

📅 Tuesday 10 March
🕢 7:30—9:00pm (Online)

As part of Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month this March, I’m running a small, supportive online session for parents of children with cerebral palsy.

It’s based on a gap I see time and time again.

Parents are often surrounded by professionals, reports, assessments, and predictions but far less often hear from adults who have actually grown up with cerebral palsy and lived the long view.

This session is not medical advice.

It’s not a comparison of children or outcomes.

And it’s not about having the “right” answers.

Instead, it’s an honest, reassuring conversation grounded in lived experience. We’ll explore what childhood, education, independence, work, confidence, and identity can look like over time, including what genuinely mattered, and what didn’t, as life unfolded.

The session is designed to be calm, pressure-free, and accessible. Cameras are optional. Questions are optional. Parents are welcome to simply listen, and leaving early is absolutely fine.

💻 £10 per household + platform booking fee (Both parents/carers welcome)

👥 Limited to 25 households to keep the session supportive and informal

If you’re a parent of a child with cerebral palsy — or if you work with families, schools, or parent networks — please feel free to share. Sometimes just knowing that these conversations exist, and that there is a longer view, can be reassuring in itself.

Aideen Blackborough

Book Here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/growing-up-with-cerebral-palsy-one-adults-perspective-tickets-1980077829089?

25/09/2025

Riding Towards Independence

Earlier this year, Cheyne helped Aleks, a bright four-year-old with cerebral palsy, to get his very own specialist trike. Aleks works hard every day to build his strength, and the trike is more than just fun, it’s a vital way for him to exercise, develop independence, and join in with his brother and friends.

When the trike arrived, his mum told us:

“The mini Biko arrived this week and we had our first trip out on it today. Aleks was ecstatic with his new bike (even more so as it’s orangey coloured – his favourite!) and it really has made us all so joyous. Mornings can always be difficult getting Aleks to do any exercises and then we got his bike out and suddenly there he was effortlessly doing all these amazing stretches and cycling on his own like a pro! I felt a weight lift watching him. I can see already what a difference it will make.”

Recently, Aleks started school, and the trike has really come in to its own:

“It’s been brilliant as not only is it helping build in exercise each day we use it, but it also motivates him to get ready for school early enough to go on his trike; double win! Plus his brother is delighted to be cycling to school too (although he’s a bit jealous of Aleks’s lovely trike!).”

Now Aleks doesn’t just travel to school, he rides there with pride, building strength and confidence with every pedal.

We are deeply grateful to the family of our former Trustee, Mary Williams, in whose memory the funds were raised. We know Mary would have been overjoyed to see how her legacy is helping Aleks grow in strength, independence, and joy.

Support our work: https://www.cheynecharity.org/support-us

09/02/2024

Here is the amazing Mark Dickinson of Katnat disabled equipment Ltd delivering some new parallel bars to Isla. Mark travels far and wide personally delivering the equipment he makes.👏👉 https://www.instagram.com/littlemissislathesmiler/

07/02/2024

20/01/2024

We’re proud to have supported Joshua Johns Wheelchair Tennis in his junior career but now now he needs our collective support to take his adult career to new heights!

Welcome to my fundraising page! My name is Joshua Johns and I am a Br… Joshua Johns needs your support for Support Joshua on the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour

22/12/2023

What a wonderful way to round out the year by seeing Darby enjoying his physio sessions, supported by the Cheyne Charity.

Thank you to his family for allowing us to share these amazing photos with you.

16/08/2023

Isla was born at 27 weeks weighing a tiny 2lb 9 and had a seizure at birth. Isla is two and a half and can’t sit independently, crawl, walk or talk. The Cheyne Charity supported Isla with a grant towards physiotherapy. The sessions have seen Isla make huge progress in the last eight months.

Since January, Isla has learnt to sit unsupported on a bench for up to a minute and also unsupported for periods of time cross legged too. She can now kneel for very short periods of time and pull herself back up when she falls back in sitting position. Isla can take a few steps to turn her body when being supported between a bench and a chair and she can hold a four point crawling position for 30 seconds. We are working towards her getting a walker at the start of this year.

Isla had a very tough start to life and our family are so grateful for the grant which has allowed Isla to come on in such a short space of time and given her more independence. We do the physio exercises as a family an hour a day, in the hope that one day Isla will be a lot more able to do things other children her age can.

Emily, Isla’s Mum.