Mother and daughter walk 14 miles for people with learning disabilities

The manager of a learning disability service in Bradford has teamed up with her ten-year-old daughter to raise nearly £400 to fund technology, to help people she supports engage with their communities.

Adele Cuvelier and her daughter Maddie walked 14 miles from Bingley to Skipton to raise funds for the Hft-run service where Adele works.

The 41-year-old works as Hub Leader, and supports people with learning disabilities to access new opportunities and spend time in their community.

Adele, who has been working in social care for nearly 20 years, was inspired to take on the challenge by daughter Maddie, who was keen to contribute to a good cause after seeing her mum work hard to provide support to vulnerable people during the pandemic.

The pair started their challenge early on April 8, taking a canal-side route to Skipton. Despite having to contend with some rainy weather, Adele and Maddie stayed motivated throughout and even received some complimentary hot drinks along the way when a café owner heard about their challenge.

Five and a half hours after setting off, the duo finished their 14-mile trek and returned home to celebrate with a hot bath and a takeaway.

All funds raised by Adele and Maddie’s challenge will go towards a fundraising drive aimed at raising enough money to build a ‘Smart Hub’ for people with learning disabilities in Bradford.

Designed to be a leading example of how technology can support people in their community, the new hub is set to be used to support people with learning disabilities in their day to day activities, and to help them engage with their environment.

Among the ideas in the pipeline are talking tiles, which use pictures to enable verbal words to be communicated, allowing people with complex needs to understand and communicate their choices and feelings to others around them.

Various challenges are taking place over the coming months, including a 50-mile coast to coast trek in July which Adele is also taking part in alongside some of her Hft co-workers, with an aim to raising the £10,000 needed.

Maddie said: ‘My mummy works for Hft and fundraising is something that she is passionate about so I wanted to help.

‘I wanted to do a fundraising walk with my mum and help raise money and I thought it would be nice to be able to do something fun together.

‘I’m really proud of what I achieved. We had a good day together, towards the end I did find it more challenging but it was worth it and I can’t believe I raised all that money!’

Emma Macdonald, sports and challenge events fundraising manager at Hft, said: ‘Generosity clearly runs in the family for Maddie and Adele, who have made an amazing contribution to our Smart Hub fundraiser.

‘Not only has Adele provided vital support to the people with learning disabilities over the course of an extremely challenging year, but she is going above and beyond in her own time to raise the funds needed to support them to access even more opportunities.

‘We’re also so impressed by the tenacity Maddie has shown by walking the longest distance she’s ever travelled, all to raise funds for Hft. They are both superstars.’

Click here to donate to Adele and Maddie’s fundraiser.

Photo Credit – Hft