Joseph Rutherford from West Bridgford is an incredible 15-year-old with Downs Syndrome, in spite of this, he continues to entertain Ash Lea School in Cotgrave every day with his tales and incredible personality.
This weekend he took on a challenge to raise some money for the Footprints charity.
Together with his dad Les, Joseph took off on a tandem ride to raise £500 – but his current total is now over £3,500!
He put out a video message on Sunday on Twitter praising James Corden and wishing to meet him – the staff at Ash Lea School took this on as a challenge and within 20 mins they had THE JAMES CORDEN following the school twitter account and Joseph has his wish….. A message from James Corden himself!
Kate Davies, Assistant headteacher at Ash Lea said:
‘Joseph is continuing his learning at home, but also managed to fit in a 32km tandem bike ride with his dad Les to raise money for Footprints CEC who support children with disabilities to improve their mobility and communication.
‘Footprints supported Joseph when he was younger and his Mum, Miriam now works for the charity to support others.
‘As a charity, Footprints has been severely affected by Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown, so efforts such as Joseph’s are vital. His efforts also drew admiration from one of his heroes, James Corden, via Twitter.’
James replied with “Joseph! I just saw this, I’m so so proud of you! Well done. I hope we can speak soon x x x”.
Joseph! I just saw this, I’m so so proud of you! Well done. I hope we can speak soon x x x
— James Corden (@JKCorden) April 26, 2020
Joseph and his dad have raised over £3,500 already, smashing their £500 target. You can donate to Joseph’s just giving page here. https://www.justgiving.
Kate added:
‘The pupils of Ash Lea Special School, Cotgrave have continued to work hard within school and beyond.
‘All pupils received their #ThankOurChildren certificates from Nottinghamshire’s Lord Lieutenant, Sir John Peace last week and have been proudly displaying them. Noah Nowicki from Upper Saxondale, is attending school so that his parents can continue their vital work for the NHS.
‘Noah’s dad Bob, a consultant anaesthetist at the Queen’s Medical Centre and his mum Tess, a Health Visitor in the community, shared this photo of Noah in his scrubs as the family felt it was emblematic of the fight against Covid-19.
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