A young girl with cerebral palsy will undergo a life-changing operation this weekend after her family managed to raise a staggering £80,000 in a year.

Through the charity Orla’s Own Steps, the family of four-year-old Orla Brash, from Tylers Green, have been tirelessly organising events to raise money for an operation called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) which will not be funded by the NHS.

Now, just one year after starting their campaign, Orla will be travelling to The Portland Hospital in London on Friday ready for the five-hour operation on Saturday.

Her mum Sue Brash hopes the ground-breaking operation will relieve some of the tightness in Orla's legs, allowing her to walk on her own.

The “determined” little girl, who was born five weeks premature and had to be resuscitated, cannot currently stand, balance or walk unaided and crawls or uses a walking frame called Spot to move around.

She diagnosed with developing Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy when she was two years old.

Sue said she is feeling “very nervous” ahead of her daughter’s five-hour operation.

She said: “One minute I'm fine and the next I'm very emotional. Orla has been good, she is starting to ask questions now about when she goes into hospital, like if she will be able to have pizza.

“At playgroup she told her friends she wouldn’t be in tomorrow because she was going to have a sleepover in London with her mummy.

“She is very aware of it and she knows she will have some pain after the operation but she is holding up very well.”

Despite an anxious wait for the operation, Sue is looking ahead at Orla’s recovery.

She said: “I’m looking forward to seeing, once the spasticity has been taken away, how much strength she has. The operation won’t just make her get up and walk about, there will be lots of therapy after.

“It is exciting, but very nerve-wracking. We are looking forward to getting out on her bike.”

The community of Penn and Tylers Green has rallied together to raise £80,500 and selected Orla’s Own Steps as the Penn fun run’s chosen charity.

Sue added: “It is amazing. This time last year we had just started out and held a teddy bear’s picnic, and now we have reached the operation. It is very surreal.”