A FUNDRAISING campaign to build a hydrotherapy pool for a boy with severe disabilities has now raised more than £21,000.

The family of nine-year-old William Chambers, of Marton, who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and severe global development delay, in addition to other complex medical issues, is aiming to raise £100,000 for the hydrotherapy room.

His mum Joanna said: “William hasn’t had the best of times since starting back at school. His seizure control is still difficult, especially as he is growing so fast. He has been in and out of hospital with his seizures quite a few times over the last few months.

“Things are so complex for William at the moment that we are very excited to have found out that we can go to Leeds for a week of electroencephalogram and video telemetry to monitor and understand his seizures better.

“We hope this will lead to a VNS implant which may help improve his seizure control. All the time spent away from home just highlights to us why we want to maximise his quality of life when he is at home.”

Joanna said they had paid for the pool and planning permission had been granted for the hydrotherapy room. She said: “It has been designed so we can share the pool with community groups such as Ryedale Special Families (RSF) who currently have to travel to Hull for their hydrotherapy holiday sessions.

“We felt as the community have helped us make this possible, we want to share it with other children who may benefit from it, as RSF make such a difference to William’s life, it felt the right thing to do.

“It has meant the build is going to me more expensive than hoped and we have a long way to go from our original goal, but we feel with hard work and the continued support of our community we can get there somehow.”

The next fundraising event is a Christmas craft fair at Pickering Memorial Hall, on Saturday, from 11am to 6pm, with more than 20 craft stalls, tombola, face painting, Santa and Mrs Claus, as well as refreshments.

For more information, find Just for William on Facebook.