A campaign to help a Flintshire girl of four walk has raised almost £50,000 in just 18 months.

Betsi Roberts, a ‘very happy and cheeky little girl’ from Penyffordd, has wowed friends and family with her progress after undergoing a life-changing spinal operation in January this year.

After being diagnosed with cerebral palsy at just two-months-old, Betsi’s parents, Sion and Sarah Roberts, vowed they would do all that they could to raise funds for this vital Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) surgery.

This Christmas, the family is celebrating the end of a year-and-a-half of fundraising after totting up the total of nearly £50,000 for their Help Betsi Walk campaign which they launched in May 2016.

The final Flintshire event was a festive fair in aid of the
four-year-old, who according to mother Sarah: “Can now stand up for ten seconds on her own, which would have been impossible before her operation.”

Sarah said: “The Christmas fair at the weekend was nice and steady throughout the morning, with lots of people who had attended events before and a lot of new people too.

“We had eight business stalls selling their own products, who paid us for a space in the hall and who then also got to keep the profit from their sales.”

In just a few hours, the Help Betsi Walk campaign raised just over £1,542 at the Penyffordd and Penymynydd War Memorial Institute.

Sarah said: “It was free entry, so the £1,542 we raised on the morning was from the money from the stalls and from the amazing raffle prizes we had donated to us.

“Betsi absolutely loved it and spent the entire morning on the tombola trying to win the Peppa Pig prize.

“This is our last fundraiser as we aren’t far off our £50,000 target, so we’ll see how we go and leave the fundraising for the foreseeable future.

“The support we’ve received has been phenomenal. Everyone has been fantastic and we could not have done it without you all.

“All our family and friends got involved and it’s been a massive team effort.”

Betsi’s operation, costing £20,000, was not covered by the NHS, and the prolonged intensive
post-operation physiotherapy costs a further £30,000.

With the £50,000 goal almost reached, Betsi can now look forward to her next steps knowing she and her family have had ‘fantastic’ support from the local community, and that she has received the care and treatment she deserves.

Donations for the Help Betsi Walk campaign will be gladly received at www.treeofhope.org.uk/betsi2016.