AN anonymous donor has come forward to pay for a specialist piece of equipment that will allow a little girl from Tiverton to relax free from pain.

Last week the Mid Devon Star featured a story on nine-year-old Libby Orr who has cerebral palsy and often finds it extremely uncomfortable to sit.

A P-pod chair would allow the St Andrews Primary School pupil to sit pain-free and means she could play alongside her three-year-old sister, Ella.

Statutory services would not fund the £500 piece of equipment so Libby’s mum Rachael turned Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children for help.

The leading children’s charity contacted the Star and following our story an anonymous Devonshire donor stepped forward to pay for the chair.

Libby will receive the P-pod chair in the next 12 weeks.

The donor also gave the charity an extra £550 to pay for a specialist buggy for a little girl from London, who also has cerebral palsy.

Newlife CEO Sheila Brown OBE, said: “We are very grateful for this donation from this wonderful anonymous donor.

“The P-pod chair will really change Libby’s life. It is incredibly generous what this person has done and will bring huge smiles to the faces of Libby and her family.”

Newlife Foundation has funded 147 Equipment Grants for disabled and terminally ill children in Devon, totalling £328,143.

However, the demand for Newlife services has shot up in recent months and the charity is appealing to ‘local heroes’ to come forward to fundraise or donate towards the cost of equipment for children in the county.

Sheila added: “As cutbacks continue to bite into local authority budgets we can expect to see applications for Newlife equipment services continue to rise.

“As a charity we are looking increasingly to ‘local heroes’ to help us help children in individual counties – and Newlife guarantees that 100 per cent of all monies donated or fundraised in Devon can be ring-fenced to help Libby or provide essential equipment for disabled and terminally ill children within the county boundary.”