I've lived in Aberdare all my life. A year ago last November I started a charity called Equip Wales. It was started in memory of my father. My dad had had two severe strokes which left him paralysed from the neck down.

During his prolonged stay in hospitals, they never had the right equipment for him to get out of bed or to go to physiotherapy.

I used to come home every day moaning about it. My daughter said, stop moaning, get up and do something about it. That's how we started Equip Wales.

We've gone on to raise funds for Bobaith Cymru, Aberdare Hospital, Prince Charles Hospital, the Heath Hospital in Cardiff. We're just going from strength to strength.

We have a lot of requests in, and we deal with them as and when they come in by raising funds at local stalls. A gentleman recently shaved off his beard that he'd worn for 36 years to raise £520 for us.

If there's anybody who'd like to help us, then please contact Equip Wales by emailing equipwales@aol.com