FOUR-YEAR-OLD Matilda Kelly is sitting tall among her school friends thanks to Bicester Round Table.

Matilda was starved of oxygen at birth and was diagnosed with dyskentic cerebral palsy, which means she cannot walk or talk and has difficulty with motor skills such as writing and drawing.

After moving from nursery to reception at Bicester’s Bure Park School, her teachers noticed she was having difficulty with her specialist chair, which was too big and not supporting her properly.

It meant there were times during the day she was unable to sit at classroom tables with her friends.

That was until the Round Table stepped in.

After the school contacted the charity, a decision was made made to pay the £400 needed to provide Matilda with a properly fitting chair, which should last her for at least four years.

Mum Tara Kelly, 41, a teaching assistant in the school, said: “The old chair didn’t fit under the classroom desks. It’s just the nature of it as it’s quite bulky.

“Because she’s such a social little girl she loves being with other children and I think if she hadn’t had the chair we would have seen a change in her.

“She would have realised quite quickly that she was not with her friends.”

Little Matilda, who has an older brother Sam, six, was tube fed for the first eight months of her life.

Against doctors’ predictions she has since learned to feed herself, is learning to talk and crawl and can stand with help.

Mrs Kelly, of Bure Park, Bicester, said: “In theory she should not be here.

“She’s been brilliant all the way through and proved a lot of people wrong. She’s a real fighter.”

She added: “Bicester Round Table have been fantastic.”

Round Table chairman Steve Johns said: “It is fantastic to be able to support such a lovely child as Matilda.

“Matilda’s new chair will make a difference to her and her school friends as they will be able to learn and play together in a way that hasn’t been possible before.

“It makes it even more special to help Matilda, as her dad Julian is a fellow Round Tabler who has given up much of his free time to raise money for the local community in Bicester.”

Bicester Round Table organises a string of fundraising activities throughout the year including the town’s annual bonfire and fireworks display, a summer beer festival and a Christmas float which visits each of the town’s estates during December.

* For more information about the round table view bicester.roundtable.co.uk or email bicester@roundtable.org.uk