'Help us give kids a Christmas treat'

A Hull charity needs £7,500 within three weeks to send 15 children with "acute disabilities" to Lapland this Christmas.

The Hull Optimists, who teach people to swim in the hydrotherapy pool at Frederick Holmes Special School on Inglemire Avenue, west Hull, have already raised £12,000, but need a further £7,500 to meet their payment deadline of Thursday, October 9.

The group could lose their £1,450 deposit if they fail to pay the balance of the £21,000 dream trip.

The 29-strong party, including 14 carers, would fly from Manchester Airport and spend two days in Lapland in the Arctic Circle.

Liz Dosdale, 36, of the Hull Optimists, said the charity applied to a number of funding bodies and was let down at the last minute.

She said: "It's so important we get to Lapland this year, because some of the children might not make it to next year."

Mrs Dosdale's sons Steven, 11, and Andrew, 14, hope to take part in the trip as carers.

Together with their friends Shannon and Heidi Hillman, both 11, and Macaulay Hillman, 13, they have raised £2,262 in just four weeks as part of their Lifestyle 2008 project.

Calling themselves the Silver Surfers, they raised the cash through picnics, coffee mornings, bag packing, a tombola, sponsored walks and a parachute jump and have donated all of the money to the Hull Optimists' appeal.

The group are all regular users of the hydrotherapy pool at Frederick Homes, where the Hull Optimists run sessions on Monday and Thursday evenings.

Hull Optimists are hoping for individual donors to come forward or businesses to sponsor child or carer places. For more information, call (01482) 568037.