A FAMILY fun day will be held on Saturday to raise further funds for an appeal for a little York boy with a rare and incurable genetic condition.

The Blakes Genes appeal was set up after Blake Knaggs, three, of Derwenthorpe, was diagnosed as a baby as suffering from the life-limiting illness Mucolipidosis II ML2 (MPS).

Organised by his aunt Joanne Addinall and her best friend Katie Johnson, it has so far raised about £35,000 to support the toddler and the charities that care for him, such as Martin House Hospice, and also to fund research into his condition.

Now the appeal organisers are back on the fundraising trail with Saturday’s event between noon and 4pm at the Oaken Grove Community Centre in Reid Park, Haxby.

Attractions include Marco’s travelling circus between 2 and 3pm, involving workshops for children.

There will also be bouncy castles, pony rides,a tractor, a penalty shout-out and sporting raffle, tombolas, a toy stall and a free craft tent, and a dance display. Admission will cost £1 and 50 pence for children, with food and refreshments available to purchase.

Joanne hoped the event might raise more than £4,000. She said Blake, who was made a York Community Pride Child of the Year last year and has defied doctors by walking with a frame, has also started at Pollyanna’s Day Nursery in Haxby and also the village pre-school in Osbaldwick on Fridays. “He is doing really well,’ she said.

The appeal has already supported a seminar at a hotel in Northampton last year, which brought together families and specialists from across the world to provide information and prompt further research. It has also funded a new sensory room at Blake’s York home.

Past fundraising events have included a talent contest at Haxby Sports Bar, dubbed Strictly Factor In Their Eyes a quiz, bike ride, Three Peaks Walk, 10 k muddy obstacle course, an auction evening and raffle, and a pamper evening. There have also been two ‘Blue for Blake’ days, when people at schools and businesses across York were asked to wear something blue, and a fun dog show and walk.

It has also been supported by Sainsbury and the Coop, and has become the York Hilton Hotel’s charity for 2017, said Joanne.