Our youngest son Cole, is 15, and has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a fatal muscle wasting condition. This means he has to rely on the use of his wheel chair most of the time these days.

When we moved to a home that was better suited for Cole, we found that the rear garden had been block paved, but it had quite a slope to it.

The small hedge between us and the neighbours meant that the garden wasn't very private and Cole could not be outside with his dogs, as they could easily get through the hedge and were likely to escape.

Thanks to the kind donations we have received from fund raising events in the past, we have been able to have a new fence erected.

This means that Cole now has the privacy he was missing, and now feels comfortable outside, and can enjoy being out there with his dogs.

However.....the areas surrounding the block paving are very uneven and get quite muddy when it rains, which means Cole cannot access those areas in his wheelchair. There are also currently sleepers between the block paving and the bottom end of the garden, which also prevents Cole from accessing the full garden area.

What we would like to achieve is, a garden which is all one level and flat, meaning that Cole can freely access and enjoy every aspect of the garden.

Due to the onset of the Covid Pandemic, it has naturally meant, that Cole has become more isolated and restricted to his own home. This has unfortunately led to his muscle strength declining faster than we had hoped, due to lack of access to hydro therapy, and place for him to be out and about.

We want to create an area where he can have his hot tub positioned, so that it can stay up permanently (currently it has to be put up/down as needed due to the shortage of practical space for it, and the slope the garden is on). We also want to add raised planters, so that he can help his mum with vegetables and flowers, as he used to love doing this, before he lost so much of his mobility.

Being outside in the fresh air, is one of the things that Cole enjoys most in life, and to be able to spend time outside while at home would be such an important addition to his health and his well being. The improvements we are wanting to make, would make such a massive difference for Cole.

If you'd like to read more bout Cole and his journey so far, he has a facebook page: Cuddles for Cole Campaign and a website: cuddlesforcole.co.uk