REBECCA Maggs is a little girl who is part of a big dream - and we want you, our readers, to help make it come true.

The Newport seven-year-old is among 1,200 disabled children across south Gwent whose lives are made all the harder for want of a modern building to meet all their needs.

Many youngsters like Rebecca need ongoing expert treatment and care to help them meet life's challenges.

But the facilities that provide these are far flung, and often fall short of the standards we expect in the 21st Century.

A purpose-built centre is needed to meet all the health and other needs of these children and their families, that cuts out the stress and hassle of meeting what can be a bewildering array of appointments with different specialists, often in different towns - a place that allows these youngsters to flourish, in surroundings that match the high standards of care they receive. And this is where you, our readers, come in. A site for this dream centre has been found at High Cross, Newport, and gifted to the cause by landowners Newbridge Estates in an extraordinary act of generosity worth several millions of pounds.

An appeal - the Sparkle Appeal - by the South Gwent Children's Foundation, the charity behind the scheme, aims to raise the £6 million required to build and equip it. And the Argus wants to raise £250,000 of that sum.

Several potential sources of funding are being explored, and the South Wales Argus is hoping to give the appeal a massive boost by raising £250,000 during 2004, with the help of readers.

It is a big challenge, but we hope you will be able to draw inspiration from the children who stand to benefit.

Children like Rebecca. She was an early Christmas present in 1996 for parents Paul and Susan, of Barrack Hill, Newport, but was born 15 weeks premature.

Her early days were a battle for survival, a battle she won despite suffering two life-threatening brain haemorrhages during her first month. She was left with cerebral palsy, which badly affects her left side, and almost no sight in her right eye.

With expert care and treatment which continues every week in the form of physiotherapy and occupational therapy, the love of her family, the support of her teachers, and a determination that belies her slender frame, she is able to attend mainstream school, Crindau primary in Newport.

Rebecca and hundreds like her are what the Sparkle Appeal is all about - helping special children shine.