A BEWDLEY church group has been raising money for a charity which supports people with a rare chromosome disease.

Noah’s Ark Toddler Group, which meets at Bewdley Baptist Church, recently donated to the trust of Trisomy 9 Mosaic, a disease which one of its members, Megan Ford, suffers from.

Megan, who was featured in the Shuttle during the summer, is one of only 12 suffers of the disease in the UK, with fewer than 120 people affected throughout the world.

As of yet, there is no cure for the condition and symptoms can vary from person to person – in Megan’s case it has caused a curved spine and fused kidneys.

Megan has been coming to the group with her twin brother Oliver and mum Joanne since the twins were just a couple of weeks old.

Joanne said: “We have always received a warm welcome and it feels like the volunteers and other mums, dads and children have become more like our family.

“They have followed Meg through her ups and downs of being poorly, diagnosed, her operation and various illnesses and there is no end of well-wishers when she’s in hospital.

“We are extremely grateful to Noah’s Ark Toddler Group for choosing the Trisomy 9 Mosaic Trust as their charity for the year.

“It was very emotional finding out about this decision to support Megan and other UK T9M sufferers and we can’t wait to start fundraising with the help of Noah’s Ark at Bewdley Baptist Church.”

The raised funds will be used for research and sensory equipment to support families of disease sufferers throughout the UK.

Organisers of the group said there will be further fundraising events for the trust, which was formed in July, next year.

A facebook page which highlights Megan’s story – Megan; Trisomy 9 Mosaic Star – received more than 1,400 likes in just over a week.