Whizz kids are on the move

But life is not so straightforward for 11-year-old Christina Loosemore.

Christina and her brother James, seven, both have cerebral palsy, a condition which makes every movement a challenge.

Until now Christina relied on friends and family to push her around in a wheelchair while James could only look on as his friends charged around the school playground.

But now, thanks to specially tailored wheelchairs from mobility charity Whizz-Kidz, Christina and James are enjoying all the things other children experience and discovering a new found independence that has transformed the whole family.

The youngsters have even become Whizz-Kidz "Ambassadors", sharing their experiences with other children and appearing on television and radio to spread the charity's good work.

"It has changed our lives and the way we can function as a family," says their mum Julie, watching James and Christina manoeuvre around their Isle of Wight garden.

Live-wire James has the wheelchair equivalent of a mountain bike. It is a bright orange, off-roader complete with headlights and indicators - perfect for a boisterous little boy who loves quad biking, cricket and the usual seven-year-old rough and tumble.

He controls it with a control pad and gear stick and best of all, he tells me with a cheeky grin, it has a tax disc!

"He can go across rough ground and go to football matches," smiles Julie, 41. "His chair is rugged so he can bash it around and go off-road."

In contrast, Christina's chair is a slimline, girly affair with customised patterned wheels and - at her own request - no handles so no one can curb her growing independence by pushing her around.

"Whizz-Kidz assessed them both for their hobbies, what they needed to get out of life and their personalities as well as their physical needs," explains Julie.

"Christina wanted to be able to go around town with her friends and go into Claire's Accessories, things like that. As soon as we saw this chair we said: That's Christina!'"

"She didn't want the chair to be surrounding her, she wanted something smaller. She also has a set of power-assisted wheels so she can go up hills and for longer distances without help."

Both wheelchairs were funded by Whizz-Kidz - that's around £13,000 worth of equipment.

"James used to interact with the older children because they were the ones standing around.

Now he can play with children his own age when they race up the hill on the school field.

"Other people's reactions have changed too. When I pushed him in his old pushchair-style buggy people thought he was lazy and would say: Get up and give your mum a rest'. Now they see him in his chair and say: Aren't you doing great?'."

Meanwhile Christina's confidence continues to grow.

"It's little things that make a difference. When we go to the supermarket she can go off and look at the magazines on her own and now we can walk side by side whereas before I was always behind her pushing so it was harder to chat.

Mum Julie continues: "She was unsure at first but it is really increasing her independence. We made her order the coffees when we went to the garden centre and she used a lift for the first time on her own while we waited outside.

"Even going to the supermarket meant I had to leave one of them with my mum because I couldn't push the trolley and two wheelchairs. Just buying a pint of milk was a military operation. Now we can just decide what we want to do without the need for help. We can be a lot more adventurous as a family."

To prove it, the Loosemores are looking forward to a holiday in France - a trip they couldn't have contemplated without the new chairs.

"I'm so proud of Christina and James. They are both so courageous," says Julie.

She turns towards her daughter.

"You surprise me every day don't you?" she says, cuddling Christina who loves nothing more than riding her pony Chester.

It was difficult for Julie and her husband Glenn to imagine such a bright future for their daughter when she was born seven weeks early and rushed to a special care baby unit.

"To be honest we had no idea what to expect and would never have imagined the children doing all the things they are today."

When James was born he appeared to be healthy but Julie had a "gut instinct"

that something was wrong.

"We noticed he wasn't sitting up and was showing a lot of awkward movements," says Glenn, 44.

When doctors confirmed that he too had cerebral palsy it came as no surprise.

"But we knew from Christina that it wasn't all doom and gloom. She had made such progress and showed us what could be achieved."

Today Christina is a quietly confident girl with a huge amount of inner strength.

She shyly lets me look at her patterned walking sticks, which she likes to colour co-ordinate with her outfits.

When asked why they became Whizz- Kidz Ambassadors Christina says she wanted to meet other people in a similar situation to herself.

James is enjoying his new role as media spokesman for the charity.

"I was on South Today," he declares.

"They're closing a lot of schools on the Isle of Wight and they're the ones with wheelchair access. I wanted to tell people what was happening and encourage other children to join Whizz-Kidz so they can go places too."