Halloween fun to help little girl with cerebral palsy

A charity kids’ Halloween party was held in the town to boost funds for little Dottie O’Keefe.

The three-year-old has cerebral palsy and a fundraising venture, Let’s go Spotty for Dottie, is running to raise £35,000 for a spinal operation, which isn’t funded by the NHS, to help her walk.

With the help of Miles for Men, which is backing Dottie’s appeal, the current total raised is now almost £23,000.

Tracey Claes, who runs a children’s entertainment business in the town, Faces Galore, decided to put on the charity night in aid of the youngster’s appeal.

And, young Dottie, who lives in Dunbar Road, was guest of honour at the event in her witches costume.

Although the money raised had not been totalled up yet, Tracey said it was a great night and hopefully will have raised quite a bit.

She said: “It was a really good night, everyone enjoyed it.

“I did a magic show and we had all sorts of activites, including a fancy dress competition and balloon making.”

The event was held at the Jackson’s Wharf pub and the managers there were so impressed they have asked Tracey to organise another similar party for Christmas.

The entertainer said: “I was going to do a Halloween party anyway, so I thought it would be nice to do it for a good cause.”

Dottie’s mum, Helen Noon, set up the fundraising page in the hope of daughter being able to have the operation she badly needs.

The youngsters was born prematurely 25 weeks, weighing just 1lb 9oz.

At just a few weeks old she suffered a severe bleed to her brain which caused her to have cerebral palsy, but after three years of intense physiotherapy she still cannot stand unaided and is in a lot of pain.

To make a donation visit her fundraising page at www.gofundme.com/lets-change-dotties-life.