A family says the generosity of a Weston-based charity has ‘changed their lives’.

The Axentis Michael Charitable Trust paid for a Maclaren buggy for eight-year-old Lexie Birkhead, who has hyper mobility and sensory processing difficulties.

Lexie’s mum, Lucy, a mobile hairdresser who lives with her partner Adam Hallett in St Georges, said the buggy has made a huge difference to their lives.

She added: “Going out as a family has always been very challenging because Lexie cannot walk very far at all, and gets sensory overload a lot.

“The buggy was completely out of our price range, but I heard about the trust through another disability charity, Disability Information and Advice Line, and thought I would give them a try to see if they could help us.

“The trust funded the whole amount and ordered the buggy for us, and it has changed our lives.”

The charity was created as a charity memorial to remember and honour the life of Weston hotelier Axentis Michael, who died in 2003.

It has since raised and distributed more than £1million to worthy causes and families in the surrounding areas.

In February last year, the trust gave a £5,000 grant to six-year-old Alannah Edwards, who is registered blind and also has global developmental delay, to have her family garden landscaped so she could play outside, while in September Phoebe Small, who has global development delay, was gifted an all-terrain wheelchair thanks to £1,000 of funding.

Lucy - who also has two sons, Taylor, aged five, and two-year-old Preston - added: “We have been able to go out to a farm for the day as a family, and Lexie thoroughly enjoyed herself and seeing the animals.

“We are so grateful and so happy the trust was able to help us, I can’t thank them enough.

“The buggy has helped us immensely.”

Alex Demetriou, from the charity, said: “We are all about trying to make a positive difference to the lives of families in the area.

“Lexie was in need of a larger pushchair to suit her needs, but these are expensive items and this was beyond the reach of her family.

“It’s very satisfying to hear the buggy has made such a positive difference, not only to Lexie herself but her whole family.”