AN afternoon tea party is set to be held in Stourbridge this weekend in aid of a Kingswinford schoolgirl.

Summerhill School pupil Megan Bradford, 14, was recently diagnosed with Friedreich's Ataxia and over the past 18 months the condition has deteriorated her lower and upper body coordination.

It has affected her balance and ability to walk that it has now got to the point where she requires the help of crutches or her manual wheelchair to get around.

Her step-father, Mike Rutherford, said: “In October 2014, Meg broke her ankle and lower leg while dancing and it was only when her rehabilitation was notably slower than expected that alarm bells began to ring.

“She quickly became unsteady on her feet and was referred to Birmingham Children's Hospital for tests and then onto The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Othopeadic Hospital, in Oswestry.

“During this time she became more and more unstable and easily fatigued and was having regular falls which led to her having to use crutches and eventually a wheelchair in order to go any distance safely.”

As her condition worsens, Mike and Megan’s mum Louan are now trying to raise £3,500 to buy their daughter a power assisted wheelchair.

To help boost the funds, they are holding an event at Scary Canary The Venue, in Stourbridge High Street, between 1pm and 5.30pm on Sunday (October 16).

Local musicians will be performing, stallholders will be selling crafts and goodies, while tea, coffee and homemade cake will also be available during the afternoon.

All proceeds from the event will go to Ataxia UK and Megan's 'Hotwheels' fund.

Mike added: “Now that we know what condition Meg has, we have been able to start planning for the future and looking at what help she needs in the short term to maintain her independence.

“Due to the fact that she gets so tired she finds it increasingly difficult to 'self-propel' in her manual wheelchair, we are looking to buy her a power assisted wheelchair which will make life easier for her and help her remain independent for as long as she can.

“We are also hoping that as well as raising funds for these two causes, the tea party may be an opportunity to raise awareness of a condition that many people have probably never heard of.”

For more information about Ataxia visit www.ataxia.org.uk/atax