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Self defence skills for women to boost confidence and safety are being taught in a one-off 4 week class in March and they are set to boost the fundraising efforts for a special young man

Leigh-Ann Spinelli, has teamed up with her son Joey’s Ju Jitsu coaches to create a 4-week self defence course aimed to help give women control over their safety and raise money for the equipment needed to help him.

Joey Spinelli age-9, was born completely unresponsive, needing doctors to work hard resuscitating him for 11 minutes. He was without oxygen for some time and spent his first weeks fighting for his life in intensive care.

Scans revealed that there had been damage caused by the period of time he had spent without oxygen and he was diagnosed with a dyskinetic cerebral palsy, which is the area of the brain that manages movement and control.

A 4-week ladies self defence class may be just what you need

Leigh-Ann said: “Since the day he was born Joey has always been a fighter and continues to amaze us all. He is currently in an amazingly supportive mainstream school and has a lovely group of friends but does require 1:1 support throughout his school day.”

Leigh-Ann has already raised over £12,412 to buy Joey a Trekinetic all terrain wheelchair in the past to use in outdoor spaces, which he is now really confident with. However with the nature of this chair it does make it very large and bulky therefore very difficult to manoeuvre indoors, leaving him at a disadvantage inside.

Currently the NHS will not fund an electric chair for inside as Joey is able to self propel a manual wheelchair, however this isn’t sustainable across longer distances for a growing young man especially as he will be wanting to become more independent.

Leigh-Ann recently contacted a company who demonstrated a piece of equipment called a Benoit Systeme which is a power add-on that attaches to a manual wheelchair to turn the chair into a powered chair. It attaches in seconds, is lightweight and transportable. It’s also discreet and unobtrusive making it the perfect solution for smaller spaces in school and shops.

Joey Spinelli and his mum are fundraising for a special wheelchair to help him

She added: “The Benoit chair is the main thing we are focusing on at the moment and it will cost £6320 to get for Joey. I am always raising money for him anyway as therapy is expensive and other equipment that is not covered by the NHS, so the self-defence class fundraiser will really help get towards the cost of the chair.

“Joey attends a Ju Jitsu class on a Monday. They have always been amazing at adapting the class for him and he’s now a yellow belt, which is amazing. The class teachers approached me and asked if they could support my fundraising by running a course throughout March and suggested women's self defence class as they have run such courses previously with success and already run an adults JuJitsu Class on a Wednesday.

If you are interested in joining the course to both support Joey and learn something, you can buy tickets here. The course will be held at Yardley Gobion village hall, every Monday throughout March 2023, commencing on March 6. The cost is £40, with all proceeds going to Just4Joey.

Read Joey’s amazing story here

The Just Giving Page can be found here

Calling all ladies who want to learn self defence in south Northants