A FUNDRAISING campaign that was set up to help a little girl from Swindon walk unaided for the first time has passed the £6,000 mark.

Three-year-old Layla Moger, from Toothill, was diagnosed with Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy when she was 13 months old.

Steps for Layla, a fundraising campaign to help pay for the operation and aftercare needed to tackle the condition, was started in January this year with the ambitious goal of raising £60,000.

In the last week, three significant donations have taken the total raised so far to over £6,000 in just three months.

Layla’s parents and close friends held a children's Easter party at Toothill Community Centre on Easter Sunday which managed to bring in £463.82.

Tracy Fenton, who helped organise the event, said: “It was hectic, we had so many kids running around but it has gone really well.

“The kids have had an Easter egg hunt, there is a bouncy castle, a disco and super hero characters.

“They’ve been running around like mad but it was a really good turnout.

“People have been really generous giving their time for free or donating part of their profits to Layla.”

Other donations came from the staff and customers of Tesco on Ocotal Way who managed to raise £185 and also from the Toothill Community Centre bar where a raffle brought in £256.14 from regulars.

Layla’s illness prevents her from using her legs normally and limits the movement in her left arm, she uses a wheeled walking frame to help her get around.

The operation that could allow Layla the opportunity to walk by herself – known as a selective dorsal rhizotomy - is not available on the NHS and her parents will have to travel to America to have it done.

The £60,000 fundraising target will not only pay for that surgery and the travel to America but also for the intensive post-operative physiotherapy and rehab that will be required.

It could take two to three years of rehabilitative sessions to take full advantage of the procedure.

Although Layla is a happy girl, enjoying swimming and singing and Peppa Pig among other things, her parents Kelly Marie Smith and Joe Moger just want her to be able to live life like other children her age.

“I want Layla to have the quality of life that she doesn’t have at the moment, I want her to have her independence and I think the operation can give her that, that is why we need the help,” Kelly Marie said.

“I hope that Layla will one day be able to be, Layla. She is so busy all of the time with physio so I just want her to be a normal little girl, this operation will change her life.”

To help support the campaign, search Steps for Layla on facebook or visit www.justgiving.com/steps4layla