Oxford United chairman Kelvin Thomas has been given an honorary position at a disability charity close to the club’s heart He has been made honorary vice-president of Charlbury-based SpecialEffect which is dedicated to helping young people with disabilities to enjoy computer games.

Oxford United has been raising money for the charity and for four-year-old Charlotte Nott, who had the lower sections of her arms and legs amputated in 2010 after contracting an aggressive form of meningitis.

The youngster was provided with a specially adapted Nintento Wii by the charity.

Mr Thomas said: “I am very pleased and proud that I have been asked to do this. I visited SpecialEffect in Charlbury with Charlotte and her family and have seen first-hand the effect that their work is having on youngsters.

“It is a wonderful charity and they do fantastic work.

“We’ve all been so touched by Charlotte’s story and this is the ideal way to bring her story to a wider audience and to highlight the fantastic work that SpecialEffect does.”

“We work with a tremendous amount of charities and this emphasises how much Oxford United is involved in the community.”

SpecialEffect uses cutting-edge technology to provide therapy, rehabilitation and fun, and their particular speciality is computer games.

Earlier this year the club wore the charity’s logo during its match against Rotherham United and the shirts were then auctioned off for SpecialEffect, raising more than £8,000.

Mick Donegan, the director of SpecialEffect, said, “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Kelvin as one of our vice-presidents.

“His experience and support will be invaluable to us as we push forward to meet the ever-rising demand for our services.

“Our charity is all about levelling the playing field for disabled young people so that they can join in all kinds of activities with families and friends, and Kelvin’s involvement will be a huge boost to the team.”