LAUNCESTON Community Market has donated £500 to the Help Izzy Walk campaign which means the market has now raised over £10,000 for local causes.

Izzy Pearce, aged six, from St Columb Major, was born at just 28 weeks along with her identical twin, Gabby and suffered a tough start to life, with doctors carrying out a twin-to-twin transfusion while they also suffered from brain hemorrhages and bleeds on the brain while both now suffer from cerebral palsy.

Gabby suffers from a mild form of the condition, but Izzy has to live with a much more serious condition known as Cerebral Palsy Spastic Diplegia meaning she has increased muscle tone and constant stiffness in her legs, which is extremely painful and affects her leg movements, co-ordination and balance, so much so that she can’t walk or stand unaided.

That led to her parents, Michael and Ursula contacting Good Morning Britain, about Izzy’s story to start the fundraising process which aimed to raise £80,000 for a life-changing operation in St Louis, Missouri.

The show were extremely interested in the story and came down to their school, St Columb Major Academy, to shoot a short video involving Ursula, the kids and their teachers which was shown live in January. Following this, the video was shown by ITV Westcountry and the story was soon picked up by local radio stations.

Caroline Sochanik, one of five members who make up the committee meeting was listening to the Radio Cornwall show and was immediately struck by the cause and suggested it as something they should get involved in.

Everybody was unanimous that they should support the cause and in the last three months have raised £500 predominantly through stallholders fees, raffles and public donations.

In the five months since the broadcast, the campaign has already raised over £64,500 thanks to a series of fundraising events.

The operation which is known as SDR (Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy) which involves the removal of defunct nerves from the spine has been set up for a date in January 2017.

Ursula said: “The support we have had has been absolutely unbelievable, to raise so much money in such a short space of time is incredible and completely beyond our wildest dreams.

On the day, a large turn-out congressed to look at various stalls and enjoy a feast of free food which was put on by the community market as a celebration of reaching £10,000.

Paul Jellyman, one of the members was ecstatic with the day and what the market had achieved.

He said: “It’s been an excellent day, all the members of the committee brought their own food which has worked out brilliantly while the turnout as usual has been excellent. But the icing on the cake for us is that we’ve now raised £10,000 in six years which for a small market like ourselves is brilliant. We always like to help local charities and causes, just like Izzy’s.”

If you feel that you would like to donate to Izzy’s cause please visit www.justgiving.com/helpizzywalk or visit helpizzywalk on Facebook.

For more information about Launceston Community Market, contact Paul Jellyman on 01837 871680 or by email at [email protected]