LOCAL special needs support group LS29 are raising money to fund a new holiday playscheme in 2018.

The LS29 Time Holiday Playscheme will provide childcare for children with disabilities and special needs in the Ilkley area. The charity decided to set it up as many of their members struggle to find specialist care outside term time.

Playscheme organiser Tanya Young said: “LS29 is run by parents of special needs children, so we all know how difficult it is to find care in the holidays. There are lots of local playschemes, but most can’t meet the needs of children with learning disabilities or complex health conditions.

“Our playscheme will give the children somewhere fun to go in the holidays. Many of them travel a long distance to special schools in term time, so their school friends are a long way away. This will give them a chance to get together with local friends, and also give families some much-needed respite time.”

The charity was at the Ilkley Real Food Market on Sunday raising funds for the playscheme and chatting to members of the public about how they can get involved.

A spokesman for LS29 said: "It was great day at the Real Food Market. It was very busy. Lots of people visited the stall to have a spin on the tombola and a chat about the playscheme launch. We made £456.70, and we've managed to secure match funding for half of that so it will be about £680 for the day in total.

"We'd like to say thank you to everyone who visited the stall, to the Real Food Market for organising it, and to all the businesses who donated prizes: Dan's Den, Ilkley Brewery, Majestic Wine, Martinez Wines and last but not least Timothy Taylor, who kindly gave us two cases of beer."

Anyone interested in working, volunteering or fundraising for the playscheme can get in touch with LS29 at ls29time@gmail.com.

The charity is also appealing for donations to the playscheme through their justgiving page: www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/ls29-specialneedssupport/ls29time

“Ilkley people have always supported LS29 and we’re very grateful for that,” said charity chair Karen Goodman-Picken.

“If anyone is looking for a great local charity to support in the run up to Christmas, we’d really appreciate a donation. The playscheme would give a real boost to children with special needs in our community”.