Sunderland woman wins fight to install accessible swing in her local park

Angela Turnbull has won a year-long campaign to have a wheelchair-friendly swing installed at her local park.

Sunderland Council have agreed to install the accessible swing and a roundabout in the park beside Hylton Castle, with works planned to start on 11 April. The work should take up to three weeks.

Angela’s nephew Will lives with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a muscle-wasting condition that predominantly affects males and causes progressive muscle weakness. He is wheelchair bound.

Angela, a project manager for Newcastle Hospitals foundation Trust, said: “It is so important that all children get to enjoy public playgrounds and it will make me so happy to see Will enjoying something like this in a wheelchair. It is an enormous achievement. There are plenty of other children with limited mobility who will also be able to make use of this incredible equipment and that makes me smile. I’m hoping to get Will down there on the opening day.”

Will’s mum Caroline Calvert said: “As a parent of a child with a muscle-wasting condition, it is very sad when they cannot join in with their peers. We are so happy and grateful that this means William can feel included in his local community, playing with his friends and family.”

Angela has spent the best part of the year in regular conversation with local councillors and the council too. She managed to get buy-in with the support of a local councillor early in the process.

Susanne Driffield, Regional Development Manager-North of England & East Midlands at

Muscular Dystrophy UK said: “What Angela has achieved is fantastic and will make a huge difference to local families. The whole family are so passionate about everything they do, and we are grateful for their continued support of the charity.”

Angela and her family have been supporting muscle-wasting charity Muscular Dystrophy UK since Will was young.

https://www.musculardystrophyuk.org/get-involved/family-funds/funds/im-in-for-will

https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/muscular-dystrophy/iminforwill

Her next mission is to have accessible beach wheelchairs installed at Roker Beach.

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