New gift shop set to help East Preston’s Iona-May

The creative family of disabled youngster Iona-May Thorne were celebrating their innovative money-spinning idea this month, after an auction over social networking site, Facebook, generated more than £1,000 of much-needed funding.

The family of five-year-old Iona-May, who suffers from quadriplegic cerebral palsy, were astounded at the level of support friends and followers showed during the auction, with some people bidding from as far afield as Manchester, during the event, which ended on Friday, March 2.

Now, following in the wake of the online auction’s success, the family has launched its first Facebook gift shop, on Saturday, entitled Iona-May’s Gift Shop.

Mum, Vicki, said that they had taken a “leap of faith” in starting the gift shop and hoped people would support it.

Nearly all the items for sale have been donated to help raise money for Iona-May. The store includes a range of jewellery, toys and DVD box sets.

All the money raised will go towards the Iona-May fund to help redesign the family’s home and improve the quality of life for the youngster.

Vicki said: “It’s so humbling that so many people have got behind us and are helping to support Iona-May. It’s truly an indescribable feeling and we couldn’t thank everyone enough.”

To date, more than £18,000 has been raised to help Iona-May fund, which is more than half of the £30,000 total needed.

However, Vicki added that Iona-May still had a long and difficult road ahead. She is due to go to hospital later this year, to replace one of her feeding tubes, which is causing difficulty.

A fund-raising fair will be held at Ferring Village Hall on April 7, between 10am and 3pm.

Donations can also be made at www.helpionamay.com