A FINAL fundraising event is planned as an appeal to help a little boy walk nears its target.

The parents of four-year-old Ryan Weatherall hope the soul and motown night, at Victoria Hall in Keighley, will help take them to the £40,000 needed for life-changing surgery.

Ryan has cerebral palsy, which affects his legs and makes muscles permanently tight.

Walking is very difficult and running impossible.

He was accepted last November for an operation – known as selective dorsal rhizotomy – at Leeds Children's Hospital, but the procedure is not funded on the NHS.

The appeal currently stands at £35,000.

Ryan's parents, Gordon and Carla Weatherall, pay tribute to everyone who has donated so far.

And they are hopeful the soul and motown night, on June 17, will help raise the final £5,000.

"Everybody – family, friends and supporters – has been pulling together," said Carla, from Riddlesden, a marketing and communications officer with the National Trust.

"We are grateful for every penny donated and every hour of help given."

The Victoria Hall event, which starts at 7.30pm, will feature SoulTrain.

The 11-strong band will perform a range of classic soul and motown hits.

Host for the evening is Kiki DeVille, who starred on the hit TV show The Voice in 2014.

The event will also include a raffle and an auction, with a signed Wayne Rooney shirt donated by the Manchester United Foundation and a signed Leeds Rhinos shirt going under the hammer.

Tickets for the evening are available – priced £12 – from ryanswishtowalk.com/big-band-fundraiser, by e-mailing ryanswishtowalk@gmail.com or by calling 07989 508948.

Tables of ten in the main hall may be reserved, subject to availability.

Bids on either of the signed shirts can be submitted prior to the event by using the e-mail address.

All proceeds from the ticket sales and activities during the evening will go to the Ryan's Wish to Walk appeal.

Charity Just4Children securely holds the funds and will pay all invoices directly.

Ryan was born nine weeks premature just before Christmas 2012, at Airedale Hospital, weighing only 4lbs 7oz.

He spent four weeks in the neonatal unit, with the initial 24 hours in intensive care.

Cerebral palsy was diagnosed after two-and-a-half years, but his parents suspected before then that something was wrong.

An assessment confirmed he had Spastic Diplegia, a type of cerebral palsy characterised by tense muscles in the lower limbs.