A health charity has appealed for the community’s aid in restoring its transportation after a collision “totalled” the Bermuda Heart Foundation’s only vehicle.

Sionna Barton, who coaches the island’s national jump rope team and runs the foundation’s Jump 2B Fit youth programme, was behind the wheel of the charity’s Nissan Tiida car when it was involved in a collision on Pitts Bay Road last Wednesday and written off.

“It’s upsetting for us because this is the first year we were finally looking at getting back to our pre-pandemic numbers,” she said.

The charity’s Bermuda Jump Rope Federation, which brought the fitness programme to six schools last year, is now up to nine schools, and it needs a car to transport members of the team as well as equipment and schoolchildren for Jump 2B Fit.

She said the loss of its dedicated vehicle “seriously threatens” the charity’s ability to visit schools island wide.

Ms Barton said that insurance should cover the damage but the process was lengthy and the charity was in “a race against time” to find a replacement car with the children’s programme due to start on September 18.

She was hit in the face by the car’s air bag during the accident and treated in hospital for whiplash and a hand injury.

“We are just a little charity and were all set to start training on the week of the eighteenth. We need to have safe and reliable vehicle for the transport of children,” she said.

The jump rope team, called the Bermy Bouncers, has also been invited by the Super American Circus to show its skills next month, when it performs in Bermuda.

The foundation took to social media for help in “seeking a reliable second-hand vehicle that can carry our mission forward”. It asked if members of the public know of available vehicles or can recommend trustworthy sources to secure a second-hand car.

The programme goes to pupils at preschools as well as private primary, middle and high schools, boosting physical, mental, and social growth through exercise.

Ms Barton also coaches adults in jump rope skills every Wednesday at the gymnasium of Dellwood Middle School in Pembroke.

“What I love about my job is that it takes me all over the island,” she said.

“We have been around for more than a decade and the programme has grown considerably.

“We work with the departments of health and education and it includes bringing members of the national team to school assemblies.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve done but this is a setback at the exact wrong time for us.

“Trying to get a car is not an easy quest, especially from a charity perspective.”

• To assist the Bermuda Heart Foundation, call 232-2673 or e-mail bdajrf@gmail.com