A COMMUNITY has come together again to raise money for a toddler severely disabled by meningitis.

A fashion show and Christmas sales event at the Derwent Manor Hotel, near Consett, County Durham, on Sunday raised about £1,000 for the Give Tilly a Hand appeal.

Tilly Lockey, three, lost both her hands after she contracted meningitis when she was 17 months old.

Her parents, Adam and Sarah Lockey, of Tow Law, were told by doctors they needed to raise about £23,000 every year to buy prosthetic hands for Tilly.

She will get her first pair next month.

Mrs Lockey said: “The appeal is going really well and the sale has helped both us and all of the businesses that have set up stalls, so it has been winwin.

When Tilly came out of hospital, I never expected to get as much support from people. It has been amazing and I cannot thank people enough.”

Event organiser Mary Kennedy also helped the couple set up Team Tilly, a committee dedicated to the appeal.

She said: “The fashion show went really well, we have had both adults and children up on the catwalk.”

To help the appeal, visit tillylockey.co.uk