THE family of a baby with cerebral palsy say they are delighted by the success of their fundraiser for the centre which has supported them.

Face-painting, a tombola and a bouncy castle were some of the activities on offer at Saturday's charity fun day for Honeylands Children's Centre, which was held at the Railway Club in Beacon Avenue, Exeter.

FUN DAY: Cody Gilpin, 4, front right, and sister Mia, 6, and friends get ready to enjoy a charity fundraising afternoon at the Railway Club in Whipton to raise money for Honeylands Children's Centre
TREATS: Nicola Cavill and daughter Maddie, 22 months, sit by the cake stall

It was organised by Nicola and Brandon Cavill, of Beacon Heath, after they experienced the good work Honeylands does in helping children with severe mental and physical disabilities, and raised £2,000.

The couple's 22-month-old daughter Maddie has spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, which has caused increased muscle tone in her limbs and neck, resulting in severe mobility problems. She spent the first three months of her life in hospital and now attends Honeylands several times a week for music therapy, nursery and physiotherapy.

"Staff at Honeylands are fantastic," said Nicola, 33. "Not only are they great with Maddie, but they are a huge support to me.

"The activities on offer for Maddie help her tremendously. She absolutely loves music therapy and painting, and always comes home from Honeylands with a smile on her face.

"Maddie can't sit, crawl, stand or walk without help and all the staff are well trained at handling her condition. The centre provides us with specialist equipment for her and has an amazing toy library.

"When we realised that Honeylands was a charity and run on donations we realised we had to do something to help, and a fun day seemed like a nice idea that everyone could enjoy."

More than 500 attended the event, which started in the afternoon and continued until evening.

"It was lovely to get so much support throughout the day," Nicola said. "We welcomed friends, family, parents from Honeylands and locals who had seen the posters up around the neighbourhood. We are delighted that the day was such a success, from the children's activities right through to a disco in the evening. People were dancing until midnight."

As the Echo has reported, part of the Honeylands Centre is to close next year as part of a multi-million project to provide a new centre for disabled children in the city. Under the reorganisation, Honeylands will cease to provide any respite care as part of its services.