The family of an eight-year-old girl with a rare and life limiting condition have made an appeal to the public to support a charity backed campaign to give them the holiday of a lifetime.

Megan McGarva, from Greenock, was born with a rare and life limiting genetic condition. She started having seizures when she was just two weeks old. The first years of her life were spent in and out of hospital as tests failed to diagnose what was wrong with her.

The rarity of her condition has left her mother Jane and father Stephen providing 24 hour care for their daughter and not knowing what each day will bring, or whether they would every have the chance to take their daughter on holiday.

Caudwell Children are a charity who provide practical and emotional support to disabled children like Megan and their families.

They give 25 children with life threatening and terminal Illnesses the opportunity to experience a once-in-a-lifetime dream holiday.

But, with just seven weeks to go until their dream holiday, fundraisers at Caudwell Children, say they urgently require a further £2,000 per child, if they are to make the once-in-a-lifetime holiday come true for this year's 25 participating families.

The money is needed to cover the cost of ancillary emergency medical equipment such as portable oxygen concentrators, and to provide a contingency fund to cover any eventuality for the group.

Both her mother Jane and father Stephen, provide 24 hour care for Megan and are calling on their community to get behind them and make their dream come true.

Jane said: "Caring for Megan can be hard, it takes a lot out of you. She requires a lot of care and her seizures can happen at any time. Sometimes it can take up to two hours to feed her with her seizures, but that's always just been the way, it has been hard over the years, but that's our life.

"With her condition, we don't know how long we have with her. I've never asked 'how long' I just know that she has a short life expectancy. That's why it's so important that we live for now and enjoy having her, that we seize the moment and take every chance we can. If we can't raise the money needed it'll be crushing for all of us."

Trudi Beswick, CEO of Caudwell Children, added: "For many families caring for children with terminal or life-threatening conditions the thought of leaving the protected environment of their home town fills them with dread. By providing 24 hour professional medical support for the duration of the trip and a team of volunteers, Destination Dreams gives families the chance to create happy memories, often for the first, and possibly last, time.

"We desperately need the local community to support this appeal as the family need this time together away from the stresses of everyday life and the hospital. Unfortunately, it's a costly exercise. The expense of the holiday, together with the cost of transporting a team of Paediatric Doctors, Paramedics and their equipment's, costs on average £10,000 per family."

The family are urging friends, relatives, the local community, schools and businesses to support the charity's fundraising efforts.

Jane said: ""There's going to come a time when it's only going to be memories, so Destinations Dreams really is the trip of a lifetime. We're so grateful to Caudwell Children for everything, without them none of this would be possible, none of the fantastic memories we're going to create as a family"

Trudi added: "For some of these children 2014 may be the last chance they have to take any kind of holiday, so I would implore people to give generously."

To support the Destination Dreams holiday or for more information e-mail fundraising@caudwellchildren.com, call 01782600437 or visit: www.justgiving.com/Destination-dreams14/