A Dunmow artist has created a set of mock second class stamps to raise awareness about the lack of healthcare provision for adults with cerebral palsy.

Eve Lacey, 28, came up with illustrations of six well-known people with the condition: comedians Rosie Jones and Francesca Martinez; actor James Moore; Britain’s Got Talent winner Lee Ridley; paralympian David Smith MBE and para-dressage rider Tegan Vincent-Cooke for the Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub project.

Dunmow Broadcast: The set of mock stampsThe set of mock stamps (Image: Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub)

She said: "March is cerebral palsy awareness month, and the charity Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub would like to raise awareness that children with cerebral palsy grow up to be adults with cerebral palsy, but lose out on joined up healthcare."

Eve, an orthoptist by profession, started illustrating when she was four years old, inspired by her father, a technical illustrator.

She enjoys hand-drawn illustration and acrylic painting but was inspired to try new techniques of digital painting for this project.

"We are looking to get 100,000 signatures on a petition so that we can hopefully get the necessary healthcare and support we need", she added.

Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub says the 130,000 adults with cerebral palsy in this country do not get joined-up healthcare like others with life-long conditions.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends this changes so adults with the condition get access to dedicated cerebral palsy specialists.

However, its guidelines have yet to be adopted across the NHS.

Eve says she has first-hand experience of the difficulty of moving from joined-up paediatric cerebral palsy care to the "cliff edge" situation where support simply ends for adults.

She added: “As a child my care was co-ordinated, it was smooth sailing, but when I turned 18 it was like I didn’t exist anymore in terms of healthcare.

"Nobody knew what to do with me and it has taken me ten years to try to get a definitive answer on chronic pain.

"There is no cohesion, no multi-disciplinary team to access professionals who know about cerebral palsy.

"It’s not like cerebral palsy gives you a reduced life expectancy, so it’s incredible adults are just left by the wayside.”