A FATHER has spoken of the work a charity has done in helping his son with special needs get a place in a prestigious school and is thanking them in a special way.
Jay Law, from Brighton, spoke of the support he has received from a charity in helping his son Arthur over the years after they noticed his eyesight was different to what they expected from a new born baby.
Blatchington Court Trust, a charity for young blind and partially sighted people, helped Arthur over the years mainly with his visual impairments such as funding an iPad with specialised apps for him.
Most recently, the charity supported the family by providing evidence so Arthur can get into St John’s School, which specialises in caring for people aged between seven and 25 with special needs.
As a result of this, Jay decided he wanted to raise money for the charity with a comedy gig on February 6 using some of his contacts from the comedy world.
The 42-year-old said: “They are the only school in the area that have the facilities to be able to take care of my little boy, not just from a visual impairment point of view but also the other things he has going on.
“He has septo-optic dysplasia which basically means his optic nerves don’t work very well, they’re too thin. So the visual impairment side of things, they have supported us since we realised when he was a couple of weeks old.
“We got in touch with them initially for some help and support because we weren’t getting a huge amount from our GP, we were going to them and we were sure he couldn’t see and we felt we were getting fobbed off a bit.
“We were told it’s normal for some kids to not show the reactions you would expect until a bit later on. My wife got in touch with the charity.
“Most recently, which is kind of why I’m doing the show, they have advocated for us and really helped to get him into St John’s School in Seaford.”
Arthur, who is now seven, will be starting at the school’s branch in Seaford in September.
In terms of the upcoming gig, Jay has managed to get many well known names from the world of comedy involved. Lou Sanders, reigning champion of Channel 4’s Taskmaster, is headlining.
The gig is called “Lou Sanders and some chums” and features Brett Goldstein, Maisie Adam, John Kearns, Laura Lexx, William Stone and one special guest who has not been announced yet.
The show is at the Old Market in Upper Market Street in Hove and is on from 7pm until 9.45pm on February 6.
Jay said: “In terms of the people doing it, it’s Lou Sanders, she does lots of TV stuff and also has her own stand up tour coming up.
“I have done stuff like this for charities I have worked for over the years since about 2013. Since then, I have been quite lucky I have developed a network of people happy to do a show in aid of charity.
“To get a mixed bill like this for a comedy gig outside of London is quite a big deal.”
For more information on the gig, visit the website.
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