YOUNG Jack Smith will get more help coping with the effects of his cerebral palsy thanks to a fundraising drive.

The free clinic that the seven-year-old attends helps disabled children relax through massage and exercise.

Now fundraisers have raised £2,000 for a new hoist to be installed, letting youngsters up to the age of 14 benefit from Bowen therapy.

Once a month, the volunteer-run Bowen clinic at East Challow village hall, near Wantage, provides gentle massages and rolling moves for 14 Oxfordshire children with autism, epilepsy and physical disabilities, helping to loosen their muscles and relax their minds.

Until now, the Saturday morning clinic has been unable to help older children, because of the restrictions put on lifting them on to the massage couches.

But now the new hoist, paid for through a charity disco, means more people can benefit.

Jack’s mum Jane Smith, 37, from Bampton, near Witney, said: “The clinic is only once a month, but the treatment really helps.

“Jack’s cerebral palsy makes him very stiff as his muscles go into spasm. The treatment greatly reduces that.

“It is a really nice clinic to be part of, and is such a nice and friendly environment to be in.

“But because Jack is getting older, he was struggling to have the treatment without the hoist to get him out of the wheelchair safely.

She added: “It is going to help Jack, and hopefully other kids as well.”

Bowen Technique practitioner Gill Moss said: “Although there are Bowen child clinics across the country, we are the first one in Oxfordshire.

“The treatment is very, very gentle, with movements across the fibres of the muscles.

“It is one of those treatments you have to have done to you to understand it.

“It is tiny, tiny little movements in various and specific places on the body, and all of the children benefit from it in some way.

“You are never going to fix them, but it does help.

“They are much more relaxed and much more supple, and generally have a good night’s sleep afterwards. “ She added: “The hoist means we can help a huge array of new children to benefit.”