Hannah Maxwell-Jones, the little girl with a facial disfigurement helped by readers of The Northern Echo, is to be part of a television appeal on Sunday on behalf of other people in the same situation.

Health Correspondent Barry Nelson talks to Hannah's mother about the progress she has made.

THREE years ago Allison Maxwell-Jones was preparing to make the longest journey of her life to help her daughter, Hannah. The little girl was born with a disfiguring facial birthmark known as a haemangioma, a mass of blood vessels which stretched and distorted her face.

Finding that little or nothing could be done in the UK at that time, Allison, from Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, discovered that her daughter's only hope lay in the deep south of America.

Through contacts with other families and the London-based charity Changing Faces, Allison stumbled on the fact that pioneering laser surgeon Professor Milton Waner of the Children's Hospital in Arkansas was willing to take on cases like Hannah, who is now five.

At that time most British plastic surgeons believed it was better to allow major facial haemangiomas to settle down before attempting treatment.

But after seeing before and after images of children successfully operated on by Prof Waner, Allison decided she had to act, regardless of the distance and the cost.

Encouraged by other UK families who have made the long journey to Little Rock, Arkansas, Allison, an intensive care nurse at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, decided she would somehow have to find the thousands of pounds needed to pay for the flight, accommodation and medical costs.

That's when readers of The Northern Echo stepped in. After reading about Hannah's plight, generous readers stumped up a staggering £55,000 to help the youngster on her way and to cover the costs of follow-up treatment. Allison was overwhelmed and "humbled" by the support of total strangers.

Much of that money has now gone after two trips to America in 2001 and 2002, although Hannah was lucky enough to be operated on by Prof Waner during a visit to Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital last August. The rest remains in a trust fund, which may have to cover the cost of private cosmetic treatment as Hannah gets older.

Three years after that first trip to Arkansas, the situation facing UK children in Hannah's position is beginning to improve. Slowly, attitudes are changing and today a toddler with Hannah's condition could be referred to one of a handful of British NHS surgeons who are willing to tackle such rare deformities early enough to make a difference.

Alex Munnoch, a consultant plastic surgeon at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, who spent some time working alongside Prof Waner in Arkansas, and during his visits to Liverpool, is one of the few. Later this year, Hannah and her mother are due to travel up to Dundee so the little girl can have more laser surgery under Mr Munnoch, who has a special interest in vascular conditions and haemangiomas.

Mr Munnoch is very happy that British families can finally get the treatment their children need without leaving these shores but he accepts that the provision of specialist services is very patchy.

"I am not the only surgeon in the UK who can help children like Hannah, there are also people in London and Birmingham," says Mr Munnoch, who worked at Alder Hey before his move back to his native Scotland. "It just comes down to how patients are referred and who they are referred to and that is sometimes part of the problem. People continue to go to some centres and if they can't offer anything then they feel nobody else can."

Hannah's mother is grateful and relieved that her little girl will be able to get the treatment she needs without leaving the country - and on the NHS.

But she cannot help feeling apprehensive at the prospect of her daughter having to go through more major surgery. During the operation, the team at Dundee is expected to remove a great deal of disfiguring scar tissue from Hannah's face.

"It is quite a big operation, probably bigger than the last," says Allison. "They are also going to try to improve her eyelid, which still droops considerably."

While understandably nervous, Allison is hugely encouraged at the progress her daughter is making. "She is doing really well. I don't know where she gets it form but she is as bright as a button."

Physically, there is still a long way to go, but the initial angry red of haemangioma has markedly faded. "There is still a lot of scar tissue and the skin is stretched in places," says Allison.

Ironically, the fact that most of the scarring is on the right side of her face has helped Hannah to master one of the most important lessons for young children - telling their left from their right hands. "She knows that anything on her birthmark side is on her right," says Allison.

This tendency to be positive and look on the bright side of life seems to have rubbed off on her daughter. "We have always been positive and Hannah seems to be the same. She says 'this is my birthmark, this is the way I am' and just gets on with playing. We don't make any big deal of it," says Allison.

Allison has become an active member of the Changing Faces charity. The charity, which helps thousands of people cope with facial disfigurement, provides support and information to families and works to change attitudes in the wider population.

"I've given a few talks for Changing Faces, the last one in York," says Allison, who is on the charity's advisory council. "When I go out, I don't even notice other people's reactions to Hannah because I'm usually so busy, but in reality, people are not looking any less."

This Sunday millions of viewers will get a glimpse of Hannah when Changing Faces features on BBC television's Lifeline appeal spot, with former EastEnders and Heartbeat star Nick Berry presenting.

"Because Hannah appears on a few of the Changing Faces publications, we were asked if we wanted to help out. She really enjoyed it," says Allison. Hannah may also feature in a documentary about birthmarks being made by the BBC.

Now Allison is still interested in using some of her daughter's "nest egg" to help another child in a similar situation. She is acutely aware of the need to spend the donated money wisely, but she also knows that Hannah may need cosmetic surgery at some point in her life - and that may not be available on the NHS.

As ever, the future presents challenges to Hannah and her family but Allison is determined to make life as normal as possible. "We try not to make a big deal of it," she says. "We just have to get on with it and move forward."

* For information about Changing Faces ring 020 7706 4232 or visit the website www.changingfaces.co.uk

* Lifeline: Changing Faces (BBC1, Sunday, 5.05pm; repeated BBC2, Wednesday, 11pm).