A TIVYSIDE pub is to stage a charity cycle ride on Easter Sunday to raise much-needed funds for the ‘Riley’s Wish to Walk’ campaign.

Regulars from the Mason’s Arms (The Rampin) in Cilgerran will turn to pedal power to cycle the 54 miles of the Lon Teifi from the Teifi Pools to the pub on Sunday April 1.

Around 25 locals have so far signed up for the challenge, each paying a £10 entry fee and with sponsorship to add, landlady Francine Barber is hoping to raise a tidy sum.

Riley’s family, from Cardigan, need to raise £40,000 for a life-changing operation and physio for the four-year-old.

Francine said: “One of my customers and friends has a son who goes to school with Riley and suggested we support him.

“We have done a few things already such as quiz nights and have probably raised around £500-£600. Any fund-raising we do we try to keep it local and this seemed like a great cause.

"When we get back to the pub, we have a few other things planned as well.”

Mum and dad Jenny Griffiths and Alistair Barros Pearera, from Pont-y-Cleifion, are trying to raise the cash for Riley, who suffers from spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy after being born 16 weeks premature in April 2013.

At the time, Riley, who has started mainstream school, was labelled ‘miracle baby’ as he defied the odds to survive but he now needs further treatment to help him walk and lessen the pain in his legs.

There is an SDR (selective dorsal rhizotomy) operation which involves opening Riley’s spine and cutting away as much as 70 per cent of the nerves going to his leg.

This would help Riley in a big way by meaning he no longer needs more Botox treatments and he may one day walk unaided. However, the NHS stopped funding such an operation back in 2011, though it is still available privately.

The surgery itself costs £20,000 and that would be followed by two years of intensive physiotherapy and rehabilitation, with each year costing £20,000 – a total of £60,000.

Mum Jenny, who has a hairdressing business in Cardigan, said: “The quicker we can get it done the better because the younger he is, the more chance there is of it having an effect as Riley is still growing.

“It’s great what the pub is doing and I just want to say a big thank you to them.”

The family’s cause has been taken up by the Just4Children charity and anyone wishing to donate can go to https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/just4children/rileyswishtowalk