Ben has finally got his Hugabike with the help of so many people

Ben visited the Formby Bubble office to show off his brand new bike and it truly is fantastic. This has changed his life in so many ways. He is now able to go out with his family and enjoy normal fun outdoor activities.

Bens dad Jon said: "We successfully raised enough money to buy Ben his new Hugbike. Thankyou to everyone that has helped in any way. Thanks to the people of Formby for their help in achieving this. Ben is so happy to be out and about with us all."

Ben (left) with his brother Josh

Ben is 13-years old and his family were trying to raise money to buy him a much needed Hugabike which is like a tandem bike but the child sits on the front being hugged by the parent behind.

Ben has a congenital heart condition, he has had several corrective operations the last being two years ago. Now that Ben is back on his feet and feeling well, he wants to start joining in with the family activities but, due to his autism this hinders him greatly, his family have tried to get Ben to learn to ride a bike, they got him a trike as they thought this would be the easiest and safest option all round but he can't get to grips with peddling the correct way. After hours and hours of trying to coach him, they have given up with that one, Ben's family have looked at several other options none of them are suitable or safe enough for him.

Bens dad Jon said: "We had to explain again to Ben why he couldn't go out with me and his brother and it was awful so we searched the internet and came across the perfect solution for him which was a tandem bike called 'A Hugabike'. The cost of this is a whopping £3,500 so that was when our fundraising began."

"We set up a crowdfunder page and we did lots of fundraising events, bag packs in local shops, bucket collections. We met some lovely and very generous people and we are truly humbled and grateful for all your help in getting us to our total. Thank you all once again from Jon, Cath, Ben and Josh."

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/get-ben-a-hugabike