IT IS going to be a happy Christmas and New Year for courageous Kent schoolgirl Charlotte Whale.

A pub landlord has pledged to raise the remaining cash to pay for the long-awaited operation which is hoped will let 11-year-old Charlotte, from Great Chart, near Ashford, walk for the first time.

Early next month Tom Dixon, 33, from The Albion, South Willesborough, will complete a three-day sponsored cycle ride round the borough’s 95 pubs to collect the proceeds of Christmas and New Year’s Eve collections for the Help a Whale to Walk appeal.

Since March his regulars have donated around £1,500 towards the £15,000 needed for pioneering stem-cell treatment in the Dominican Republic.

The appeal fund is now topping £12,000 after £3,013 was donated by children at Ashford Play Nursery following a sponsored toddle.

Mr Dixon said: “I expect to raise £1,500, and with the help of generous customers from all the other pubs I am confident we will raise the cash for the operation and accommodation for Charlotte and her mother.

“It only means that each pub has to collect £30 and I urge everyone to give generously during the season of goodwill.”

Her mother, Lori Whale, said: “This is a long-awaited dream come true for Charlotte.

It looks as if the end is in sight and everyone has been so generous that we cannot thank them enough.”

Charlotte, a pupil at Oak Tree primary school in South Ashford, was 14 months old when she caught a virus. Within seven weeks she had lost her sight, speech and hearing, and had no control of her bodily functions.

Aged three, she caught chickenpox and her eyesight returned. Then she had her tonsils out to relieve a sore throat and both her speech and hearing came back.

If you want to help, contact Mrs Whale on 07837 840277 or Mr Dixon on 07973 248670.