Staff go the extra mile for young boy's birthday present

Staff at a Crawley store have been praised for going above and beyond to make young boy with autism's birthday a success.
By The Newsroom
Published 31st Oct 2016, 13:15 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 22:56 BST

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Mark with his bike accompanied by (from left) Fergal from Lighthouse Rayne's Park, deputy store manager Chris and DaveMark with his bike accompanied by (from left) Fergal from Lighthouse Rayne's Park, deputy store manager Chris and Dave
Mark with his bike accompanied by (from left) Fergal from Lighthouse Rayne's Park, deputy store manager Chris and Dave

Kelly Monniot, registered manager at Lighthouse Rayne’s Park children’s home in London, praised staff at Halfords in County Oak Way in for their efforts to make Mark Gockelen feel comfortable. Staff kept the store open after hours to ensure that he could come in at a time suited to his needs.

Mark, who lives at Lighthouse Rayne’s Park, will be 14 later this month and the bike is to be a present from the children’s home.

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Mrs Monniot lives in Crawley and took the decision to drive Mark to her local Halfords because of the great service.

“I wasn’t sure of the reaction I was going to get when asking if they could adapt a bike for a young person with autism and complex needs,” said Mrs Monniot.

She praised staff member Chris, who was “able to suggest lots of ideas, including removing the gears from the handle bars and attaching adult stabilizers as the rider was still learning a thing or two about balance.

“There were no boundaries, just solutions and we were soon on our way to creating a bespoke bike for Mark,” she added.

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“When we arrived everything was ready for Mark. Not only did we receive an excellent service from Halfords and their staff, we received compassion, understanding and inclusion – what every child with autism wants.”

Chris from Halfords said: “At Halfords one of our goals is to help every child learn how to cycle and so when we learned of Mark’s special situation it was a challenge we couldn’t ignore.

“He was utterly thrilled after seeing his new bike and that’s the kind of reaction which makes this job so rewarding. We hope he enjoys his new bike.”

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Related topics:Halfords