Puzzle publisher purchases Dame Vera Lynn giraffe to support children with cerebral palsy

However, the company also has a more serious side and aims to promote education through puzzles, with games such as crosswords known to help boost brain power.

When Puzzler Media Ltd heard about the Rotary Club of Horsham’s initiative in which specially decorated figures of giraffes were designed by local organisations then placed around the town centre with the aim of being auctioned off for charity, it didn’t taken them long to join up the dots and see how worthwhile the project would be for one local organisation.

One of the giraffes was decorated on behalf of the Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy. Featuring exclusive images of Dame Vera Lynn from her private photo collection and signed by the iconic wartime singer herself, Puzzler realised the giraffe had a very special meaning and has therefore donated £1,500 to the Trust in order to support the education of children with motor learning difficulties.

The Trust runs two Schools for Parents, in Billingshurst and East Anglia, which help children with cerebral palsy and other motor learning difficulties to develop the pathways between their brain and muscles through a process called conductive education, whilst providing practical support for their parents. The schools rely entirely on public funding to operate.

The giraffe, affectionately named Vera: An Inspiration, had visited children at the West Sussex school on its travels into Horsham, who immediately fell in love with it. Staff at marketing agency PMW Communications, who decorated Vera, realised just how important she is to helping the children’s learning development and offered Puzzler the opportunity to adopt her.

Tony Ablewhite, Digital Media Manager for Puzzler Media Ltd, said: “When we heard about Vera and the impact she had on the children at the Dame Vera Lynn Trust’s school for children with cerebral palsy, we immediately knew we had to step in and help. The idea of conductive education supporting the children’s development is a perfect fit with Puzzler’s ethos of learning through fun and we couldn’t think of a better way to support such a worthwhile cause than ensuring Vera is able to find a home with the children at the Trust’s West Sussex School.”

Vera the giraffe will spend most of the year at the School for Parents and will also pay visits to Puzzler Media Ltd’s head office in Redhill, Surrey, where staff and customers will have the chance to learn more about how Vera is making a difference through conductive education.

Sarah Ffoulkes Roberts, Head of Early Years at the School for Parents, commented: “We are very grateful to Puzzler Media Ltd. for donating funds to the Dame Vera Lynn Trust and in turn securing the giraffe’s future home at the school. Vera looks fantastic and really highlights just how much Dame Vera has been an inspiration to everyone involved with the school, from the children and their parents to the teachers, support staff and fundraisers. The bright colours used are perfect and really caught the children’s attention.”

Report and picture contributed,