THE parents of a quadriplegic York youngster have hit their target in a £10,000 fundraising drive to install a lift at their home.

Now Lisa and Mark Parker are waiting to hear if they have succeeded in an appeal against refusal of planning permission for the lift, which would mean they no longer have to carry Max up to his bedroom.

In the meantime, they have started off on another bid to raise a further £4,000 to buy a special bike-cum-wheelchair so the five-year-old can go out on family bike rides.

Mrs Parker said their friend’s son, Jimmy Dalgleish, ten, was planning to shave his hair off to help raise money, with Brian’s Hair Fashions in South Bank Avenue agreeing to carry out the shave on Saturday afternoon.

York Press:

Brian Hughes prepares to shave the head of Jimmy Dalgleish who is raising money for Max 

The Press reported in January how Mrs Parker was heartbroken after planners had blocked proposals for the lift at the family’s home in Campleshon Road, South Bank.

She said then that Max, five, who attends Hob Moor Oaks School, had to be carried upstairs to his bedroom and the bathroom after developing cerebral palsy and dystonia when he was born 13 weeks prematurely.

He was getting heavier and they now wanted to build a two-storey extension which could contain a lift shaft, so they could keep the dining room for their family, which also includes two other children, Lily and Ben.

A council report on an initial application said the extension would be harmful to the amenity of neighbours, and would be an overbearing and oppressive structure.

A council spokesman told The Press that while it was sympathetic towards their case and had offered free advice on how the development might be amended, as in all cases the authority had to also bear in mind the effect on neighbouring property and residents.

A spokeswoman said the authority offered grants to families with disabled children of up to £30,000, and families could also apply for interest free loans, subject to planning permission being in place.

Mrs Parker said yesterday that an appeal had been lodged against the planners’ decision and they were currently awaiting the outcome.

She added that a series of events had raised about £5,000 towards the cost of the lift when they received a donation for £5,000 from a charity, The Jack O’Donnell Foundation.