A CHARITY is appealing for help to raise £135,000 to buy a minibus and static caravan.

As well as covering the cost of buying the new equipment for the Darlington and District Branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the cash will also help with running costs for the next three years.

The minibus is a vital piece of equipment for the charity, saving its members the high prices of wheelchair-accessible taxis, while the caravan will offer members a chance to take a holiday.

Both new pieces of equipment will be adapted for wheelchair use, and it is thought the caravan, which will sleep seven and is being built specifically for the branch, may be sited in Morecambe, Lancashire.

The branch already has a caravan sited at Primrose Valley, North Yorkshire but that will become obselete at the end of the year.

The current minibus, which seats seven passengers alongside three wheelchairs, is five years old and will be traded in part exchange for the new bus, which will hopefully seat five, but have room for six wheelchairs.

The branch's honorary secretary Anna Barrett said: "If we didn't have the facility, transporting a wheelchair is so expensive."

She said one member had had to pay £40 each way to go to a wedding in Redworth from Middleton St George in a wheelchair-accessible taxi.

Anybody who would like to make a donation can call Mrs Barrett on (01325) 720059, or send it to The Byers, Rose Hill Farm, Middleton Tyas, North Yorkshire, DL10 6PX.