THE money to buy Andover girl Samantha Neil a new wheelchair has already been raised just two weeks after the appeal was launched by Brave Hearts.

Thanks to the generosity of local people and the Stannah Stairlifts' Three Peaks Challenge Team, Sam and her family will be testing a new wheelchair next week - and if all goes well she will be formally presented with the new model within a week or two.

Sam suffers from a mysterious ailment which has rendered her unable to walk or talk.

She can only get about in a wheelchair but the one she has is old and clumsy.

Her new wheelchair will be much lighter and easier to handle, although she will still keep the old one for use at school.

Ron Bennett, appeals officer for Andover's Brave Hearts charity, had agreed to raise the £1,000 plus cash by sleeping out on Christmas Eve in the shadow of a monument which recalls a royal murder.

Sam lives with her parents, Don and Chris, in Dexter Square.

This week Chris said: "It's absolutely wonderful, I just can't believe it."

A Charity Bash that had been planned to be held at the Swallow Function Room on 20 December in aid of Sam's appeal, will now be in aid of the Brave Hearts Special Child Appeal Fund.

The sponsored Christmas Eve sleep-out by Mr Bennett - during which he will sleep next to Deadmans Plack in Harewood Forest - will go ahead as planned in aid of the Brave Hearts Special Child Appeal Fund.

Anyone who would like to give a donation to this event can do so at the Nationwide Building Society, 16/18 High Street in Andover.