Fun day at football club nets £10,000 towards youngster's operation

A NEWBURY father who is trying to raise £100,000 so his nine-year-old son can have a life-altering operation has spoken of his joy as a family fun day helped contribute £10,000 towards the fundraising target.
Dudley Spencer, 45, who lives in The Gabriels, has organised a series of events to help raise money so that Jake, who suffers from complex partial epilepsy in the right hand side of his brain, can have the pioneering operation in Cleveland, Ohio.
The latest event was a bumper family fun day, held at Newbury Football Club on Saturday, in which 500 people turned up to help raise money for the youngster.
The day kicked off with a veterans six-a-side football tournament with around 160 players.
Guests who were not involved with the football were kept entertained by a tombola, cake stand, a coconut shy, penalty shootout, candy floss stall, raffle, bouncy castle and various other stalls.
One of the highlights of the day proved to be an auction which made £5,000 and featured a range of top prizes including an iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Beats headphones, a night at a top hotel and an England shirt signed by David Beckham.
Those attending also had the opportunity to dance the night away as the auction was followed by an evening disco.
Jake, who will be 10 this year, was first diagnosed with the condition when he was two years old.
However it was two years ago, just before his seventh birthday, when his condition started to rapidly deteriorate, with the youngster experiencing up to 200 seizures a day.
He has since had four seven- hour operations to remove the affected area and on three occasions has been put into an induced coma to enable his brain to rest.
Jake, who currently lives in Spain with his mother, where he spent nearly a whole year in hospital between the Costa del Sol and a specialised children’s hospital in Madrid, flew over to England especially to make an appearance at the event and presented the football teams with their trophies.
Speaking to the Newbury Weekly News this week, Mr Spencer said: “It was fantastic to see Jake there and he really enjoyed the day.
“I want to say a big thank you to everyone who was involved. To raise £10,000 in one day is quite overwhelming but we’re incredibly grateful.”
The fun day follows other fundraising events held for Jake in the district recently, including a sponsored walk and a cake-bake sale.