Toddler with cerebral palsy takes on walking challenge to raise money for a good cause

Two-year-old Lola James, who lives in Leicester, completed a 64-stop challenge on her birthday to help raise more than £2,000 for the Steps Center in Shepshed. Lola, who has cerebral palsy, was applauded and received hugs from her parents and staff at the Steps Conductive Education Centre. Lola regularly attends the center in Loughborough Road, where she receives help with her walking and motor skills alongside other children with conditions such as cerebral palsy and Down Syndrome. Beth, Lola's mother, described the charity as a "lifeline" for her daughter and the family. She said that Steps takes a holistic look at the child and helps them with all aspects of their development, which includes physical, cognitive, social and life skills.

The efforts of fund-raising were boosted with a donation from Lubrizol, a science company based in Derbyshire where Greg works as a videographer. Between them, they handed over more than £2,000 to Steps, which relies on donations and costs £220,000 a year to run. Beth said that Steps Center has been a real lifeline for the family, as it is for many other families in the area. She added that special needs toys, which are expensive, can be used by Lola at Steps. It is clear that Lola's achievement is making a difference and helping to support the Steps Center.

According to BBC, Conductive Education is a comprehensive system that focuses on developing and nurturing the abilities of children or adults with neurological, impaired, or delayed movement problems. It is based on a structured biopsychosocial model of teaching and learning. This model was developed in Hungary when Steps was founded in 1994 by a group of parents. It allowed them to use the principles of this education in the local area. Steps provide its services free of charge to families.

The center runs daily classes, mainly for preschool-aged children. During the Covid pandemic, it has developed digital sessions to enable people to continue to benefit. It also provides a community of parents who have disabled children and parents is able to share their knowledge and experiences. Beth, the parent of one of the children attending the center, said that the staff had been able to get her daughter, Lola, to walk by manipulation, which they could never do at home.

She also said that it was hard to connect with other parents who don't have a disabled child and that Steps had been life-saving for them in many ways. To help cover the costs, the charity relies solely on fund-raising. Lubrizol, a company that heard about Lola's challenge to walk, donated £2,000 to the charity to help them continue to provide their services. The company is proud to have been able to assist in a small way and congratulated Lola on her achievement. Indila Simandi, the lead conductor of Steps, said that the donation was massively valuable and they would not have been able to continue without it.