WHEN three-year-old William Mountain was diagnosed with leukaemia in March this year he had to stop attending his much loved nursery Jolly Tots in Burley-in-Wharfedale.

But that did not mean he was forgotten about - far from it. Jolly Tots kept in regular contact with William's family, sending cards and presents and wanting updates on how his treatment was going.

And when they realised the support the family - parents Victoria and Oliver Mountain and William - were receiving from Candlelighters they decided to support the Leeds based children's cancer charity for the year.

Rachel Stokes and Caley Hughes from Jolly Tots organised a sponsored walk for the toddlers from nursery and a fun day for all the families afterwards, including a bake sale, face painting, raffle, guess the name, bottle lucky dip and much more.

There was a massive turnout for the toddle around the village in Burley in Wharfedale, with nearly all the children from nursery taking part in fancy dress. William's mum Victoria Mountain, 33, of Ben Rhydding, said they were overwhelmed by the response to the fundraising.

She said: "William had attended Jolly Tots since he was 10 months old, once a week. It's fair to say that William is a real character at nursery, singing and dancing, and created some close bonds with many of the staff.

"He was unable to continue at nursery once he was diagnosed due to the treatment and becoming neutropenic, but he looks forward to returning once treatment has finished.

"The total raised by the sponsored walk and fun day afterwards was £4,104.85. It is a massive amount raised by one event organised by a nursery. It just shows what love and care went into organising it to ensure it was a success. Also this shows what a wonderful charity Candlelighters is that people were willing to come together and raise such a massive amount of money for them.

"We are very proud of our son William, we know he is very highly thought of at Jolly Tots, as all the children are and this shows what a wonderful nursery it is to do this for us."

William was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) in March after being unwell for a few weeks before hand. Victoria said: "He is currently four months into six months of chemotherapy followed by two and a half years in maintenance. William has responded very well to the treatment and went into remission after a couple of months. We have weekly trips into Leeds General Infirmary where William is receiving his treatment which involves chemotherapy, steroids and lumbar punctures, he takes it all in his stride and we are very proud with how he has coped so far.

"During our time so far we have received the most wonderful care from all the staff at the LGI and from The Candlelighters. During our stay in hospital Candlelighters ensured that William was entertained bringing toys to his room, playing with him in the playroom, the Candlelighters dinner lady Elaine would bring him sandwiches or jelly if he was hungry, the play team in clinic distract him when he is having treatment done. Also at The Square over the road from the LGI is a house for families to go to for a coffee, chat. They offer massages, haircuts or talking therapy for us if we feel we need it. This charity can honestly not do enough for you, they are just wonderful. In June this year we were given a holiday to Centre Parcs provided by the Candlelighters to give William a break everything and give him some normality. Also they organised an even in June where all the families would have goes in race cars, aeroplanes and helicopters."

She added: "William continues to do well, he is about to start an intensive course of chemotherapy which will make him quite poorly but we know he is a little fighter and he can get through it, hopefully we will have our little star back to his wonderful self soon."

Businesses who sponsored the event are: Black Hat, Ilkley, Spauls Butchers Burley in Wharfedale, Emmerdale, Mark Swinford Photography Horsforth, White Hart in Pool, Coffee Station in Burley in Wharfedale, Jenna's Beauty Lounge, Red Lion in Burley in Wharfedale, Queens Head Burley in Wharfedale and Tesco Ilkley.