A CHARITY campaigner has been forced to launch his own fundraiser to allow him to keep up the good work.
Gary Goswell-Munro relies on his tailor-made electric wheelchair to get him out and about, but repairs that will allow him to leave his Paignton home are to cost £2,000.
Friends and colleagues have set up a GoFundMe page to get 54-year-old Gary back on four wheels and get him getting out of the home that will become his prison without it.
Gary, who has had cerebral palsy since birth is a regular helper at the Lounge in Fleet Walk, Torquay as well as a valued IT expert via the Torbay Timebank.
He also recently became a trustee of The Torbay Community Development Trust and joined the Ageing Well Festival organising committee, which means he often leaves his home at 6.30 in the morning, not returning until 8 pm.
“It is very hard to get around, even with my powered chair,” said Gary “but without it, I am not going anywhere. I would be stuck in the house the whole time.”
Gary’s does have a mobility allowance, but he uses that to get around the Bay, and it does not stretch to the essential repairs to the powered chair that was fitted to suit his specific needs.
Fortunately, he has been loaned another chair whilst the repairs are carried out, but work is nearing completion, and the workshop needs its chair back and needs paying for the repairs to Gary’s chair.
He is a regular sight around Paignton and Torquay – Gary always wears a luminous jacket, as much for his own safety as that of others, who don’t always see him coming.
Ageing Well Torbay community builder, Dan Best said: “ I have been working with Gary supervising the “Lounge” and found him to be a kind caring and passionate community-minded person, who even though he has his own personal challenges to face on a daily basis is always thinking of others and how he can support his community. So please help Gary get his wheelchair fixed, so he can continue his voluntary work supporting our community.”
Although it is challenging a lot of the time, Gary tries to keep going with his own motto, “I have challenges, but my challenges do not have me.”, sometimes he asks others “You may have challenges, but do your challenges have you?”.
So far £285 has been raised.
If you can help Gary put wheels back on his wagon visit his GoFundMe page at: https://www.gofundme.com/nowheelsonmywagon
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