A PEEBLES family have made an emotional plea to help fund treatment for their 18-month old daughter who has Cerebral Palsy and Global Developmental Delay.

Husband and wife Chris and Laura Moore are asking residents across Tweeddale to lend their support for special therapy for their little girl Scarlett.

On March 18 last year in Dubai, Laura suffered a traumatic birth, with baby Scarlett deprived of oxygen, leading to a number of seizures in her first 24 hours.

For the first two weeks of her life, Scarlett was placed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the Al Zahra hospital in Dubai.

After two years living in the Middle East, and discovering that their daughter needed lots of treatment, the family moved to Peebles in June 2016 to live with Laura's parents in the town.

Prior to their move to Dubai, the pair lived in Keswick in the Lake District in England. Laura hails from Loanhead, and Chris from Carlisle.

Last November, the family received news at the Borders General Hospital that Scarlett had Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Global Developmental Delay (GDD).

The 33-year-old mum told us: "We had to move in with my parents and we still haven't got a house. My husband Chris has been unable to find work since coming back, but we are very lucky to have my family here who help a lot.

"Scarlett cannot hold her head up, sit up and digest food properly. This is obviously far from the dreams we had for our beautiful daughter. We want to do everything we can to give Scarlett a fighting chance, she is such a star and always has a smile on her face.

"After months of research we found a therapy called ABR, a unique, rehabilitative, home based therapy, specifically for children with CP.

"We started the therapy in March this year and have already noticed small improvements like she can open and close her hands more, has less stiffness in her right arm, is more flexible and her drinking is slowly improving.

"ABR Therapy is not a miracle cure and will take some time however I know both Scarlett and us will give it 100%. It is expensive and unfortunately not available on the NHS which is why we are fundraising for £15,000 so she can have three years therapy. We'd be very grateful if folk from the Borders could dig deep and help our little girl."

Over £4,000 has been raised so far, including £570 from bag packing at the town's Sainsbury's supermarket in August. Next month, several of the couples' friends will run marathons for Scarlett to help build cash to reach their target.

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/just4children/scarlettsnextsteps and to follow their progress, visit www.facebook.com/scarlettsnextsteps