A DARWEN pub will donate 1p from every alcoholic drink sold this month to help a poorly child’s family in their bid to raise £25,000.

Twenty-month-old Leyton Wright was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy in December and desperately needs a specialist wheelchair to help him get around.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Unable to walk because the condition has restricted the mobility of his legs, Leyton’s parents Dominic and Tammy, both 24, have launched the appeal to raise £25,000 to buy him a SnapDragon wheelchair, which has a seat that can be lowered to floor level.

And punters at The Old Function Rooms in Watery Lane, Darwen, will be doing their bit with a penny from every alcoholic drink sold in April to be handed over to Dominic and Tammy.

Manager Maxine Walsh said she sold 3,500 to 4,000 pints a week. She said: “A friend of the family comes in and had been telling me about the fundraising and I just said whatever we could do we would.

“Because of the Budget, they have knocked a penny off every pint, so we said that through April we would give that penny to Leyton and at the end we will match it.

“They are desperate to get this money and we want to do everything we can to help.

“He should be walking round and playing with his friends now.

“He is such a little bundle of joy, it is like it has never happened.”

Miss Walsh said she also intended to put on a ‘battle of the bands’ event this month and was organising a ladies’ night in May, as well as a raffle.

Dominic, of Avallon Way, said: “We are really grateful to Maxine.

“The response from the public has been absolutely brilliant. We have raised about £5,000 so far.

“People are just organising things and then letting us know afterwards and we have even had people coming up to us in the street and just giving us money. It is at times like this you realise what a close-knit community you live in.”

*The Victoria in Sudell Road will hold a day of live music today for the appeal.