Support group gets BFP’s Christmas card funds

4:00pm Thursday 28th December 2006

A SUPPORT group for sufferers of a rare condition found themselves £500 better off this week after the Bucks Free Press donated their Christmas card funds to them.

XP Support, based in Prestwood, received the cheque for £517 last Thursday after the Free Press decided not to send Christmas cards, but donate the money they would have spent on them to charity.

The group is run by Sandra Webb, whose 12-year-old son Alex suffers from Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), a rare condition which means he cannot go out in daylight.

XP is caused by an inherited recessive gene. If sufferers are subjected to ultra-violet light there skin cells become damaged, but do not repair again, meaning they become very susceptible to skin cancer.

Sandra, 49, was thrilled when she got the news. She said: "To get £500 is a huge amount to us. Many small charities have suffered over the last year or so because of the tsunami and the earthquake in Pakistan. Little charities, we're sort of down the bottom end."

She added: "Thank you all very much, it really does mean a lot to us. The local support keeps our group going, and we know without it we wouldn't exist."

The money will go towards their patient support packs, which contain advice for XP sufferers growing up with the disease.