A DISABLED volunteer Scout leader was given the best Christmas gift she could have wished for – news a custom-built all-terrain wheelchair has been ordered just ten months after a fundraising campaign was launched to buy one.
The fundraiser was initially launched to pull in £11,000 to purchase the wheelchair for Sue Baillie, of Barnard Castle, to give her greater mobility, by friend Suzanne Thomas in March.
As well as setting up an online fundraising page Mrs Thomas completed a 40-mile trek to Penrith from Barnard Castle as part of the campaign.
Funds for the appeal flooded in from musical duo Two Local Blokes – James Dykes and Eddie Tinkler – who gave the campaign a share of their annual charity donations.
A generous £5,300 anonymous donation in November meant the target figure had been achieved.
Unfortunately, due to a price rise when they went to order the mobility aid it, the cost had increased by £1,500, so another fundraising evening, this time a race night, was hastily put together.
The event was a huge success with the fundraising target passing the finishing post just ten months after it was launched.
Mrs Thomas said: “Impossible is nothing. When I first got to know Sue, we were both doing charity collections for Smile for a Child – the Chris Read children’s charity. Impossible is Nothing was their slogan.
“When we started to raise these funds, we both had Chris’s words ringing in our ears. He was right when he said that community is about making sure nobody gets left behind.
“He was our mentor, the best example of humanity and an all-round great friend. He taught us that Impossible was a challenge to overcome.”
With £12,700 secured the all-terrain wheelchair, which is custom-built, has now been ordered and is expected to arrive in spring.
Mrs Baillie, who continues to volunteer as a Scout leader despite having part of her right leg amputated during the covid lockdown, said: “I’ve been overwhelmed by the support I have been shown from the beautiful people of Teesdale and further afield.
“I am humbled by everyone’s donations and physical support, I’m so very grateful for you.”
She added: “The biggest thank you has to go to Suzanne and my husband Derek. Without them I would be nowhere near being able to purchase the off-road wheelchair.
“I’m so very grateful for my driving force and completely nutty friendship of Suzanne, she is one very strong and giving women. Nothing is too much and her heart is made of gold.
“Thank you all very much for the chair – watch your toes everyone”
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
