Dr Nyla Raja lends support to disabled children’s charity

It's the season for giving and Dr Nyla Raja has chosen to do just that by raising funds for a disabled children’s charity throughout December.

Dr Raja, who is the founder and Medical Director of Medispa Cheshire, is donating £1 from every treatment undertaken at her Cheshire, Liverpool and Harley Street clinics, in December, to Caudwell Children, the national charity that provides practical and emotional support to disabled children and their families.

Dr Raja, whose clinics offer a selection of non-surgical facial rejuvenation and body sculpting treatments, has followed the charity closely since it was founded in 2000. As the 41-year-old skin specialist explained: “I was a GP in Stoke in the charity’s early days and I was fully aware of the pressure on the NHS service locally, and the recourse that it had to support disabled children in the city.

“As a working GP I quickly became aware of Caudwell Children, and the range of invaluable services that they were providing to disabled children throughout the region.”

At the time the charity was funding specialist equipment, such as powered wheelchairs, sports equipment, buggies and car seats, and providing a range of treatments and therapies that were not available on the NHS.

Dr Raja added, “I was very interested in the charity’s founder, John Caudwell, and I watched the way he was developing his businesses, and I suppose that also increased my interest in Caudwell Children,” she explained. “Seeing the charity grow has been fascinating! They have recently launched a new autism service and I know all about autism screening through my time as a GP.

“My best friend’s son has autism, and a number of acquaintances have been touched by the condition, and I suppose it was this that prompted me to raise funds throughout December.”

But this isn’t the first time that the mother of three has supported the charity. She recently attended Caudwell Children’s flagship fundraiser the Butterfly Ball, held at the Grosvenor Hotel, in Mayfair, London. During the evening Dr Raja pledged to fund a state-of-the-art powered wheelchair for one of the charity’s beneficiaries.

“It was a wonderful event and so rewarding,” enthused Dr Raja, who lives in the Cheshire village of Prestbury. “I received a lovely, heart-warming, framed letter of thanks from the child.”

She is now encouraging other businesses to donate to the charity. She said “The money we are donating is such a small part of our business revenue but it makes such a big difference to a child’s life.

“Businesses don’t have to donate a large amount to make a huge impact on a child and their family.

“The wheelchair that I funded was for a child who hadn’t been able to leave the house in a long time so the equipment made a massive impact.”

Trudi Beswick, CEO of Caudwell Children, is delighted by the support. She said: “Businesses can play a huge part in ensuring the success of charities and the partnership with Dr Nyla will not only raise our profile amongst her clients, it will also raise vital funds for Caudwell Children over the seasonal period, an increasingly important time for charitable giving.

“We can’t thank Dr Nyla and the Medispa team enough.”