The dad of a seven-year-old girl with cerebral palsy has thanked “amazing” Millwall fans for helping to fund a garden for her to play in.

Ellice Barr suffers from diplegic cerebral palsy, which affects the movement in her legs. For most of her life, she relied on a walking frame to move around and walked on her tiptoes.

Eighteen months ago, Ellice’s parents, Joe and Amy, started the Ellice’s Wish to Walk fundraiser to raise £65,000 for surgery to improve her balance.

After a hugely successful campaign, Ellice reached her life-changing target and has made progress since undergoing surgery.

This Is Local London:

Ellice has had surgery to help her walk without support (Joe Barr)

“She’s gone from using a walking frame all the time to hardly using it anymore.

“She doesn’t want to use it,” Mr Barr told News Shopper, describing his daughter as his “little princess.”

Ellice’s campaign first caught the attention of Millwall FC last year when midfielder Jed Wallace met the little Lioness after spotting her story on Twitter.

Since then, Kathryn Gale from the Millwall Supporters’ Club contacted Mr and Mrs Barr to find out how they could help with the next stage of Ellice’s journey.

“We told them we wanted to save up some money to redo the garden. Ellice has never been able to enjoy it properly, so the Supporters’ Club decided they would crowdfund for her,” Mr Barr said.

Just a few months and £6,500 later, the garden has been transformed thanks to the support of Millwall fans – and West Ham fans played their part too.

This Is Local London:

Ellice enjoying her new garden (Joe Barr)

Michael Avery, vice chairman of the Millwall Supporters’ Club, explained how Irons supporters came to Ellice’s aid after Lions fans had supported a fundraiser for a West Ham fan with neuroblastoma, Isla Caton.

“Millwall fans are really charitable. We’re a family club,” the father-of-two told News Shopper.

“When we found out the family wanted to redo the garden, we thought: ‘That’s an awful lot of money,’ and we wanted to help.”

The new garden contains a gym for Ellice to exercise in, and Mr Barr is working on installing a treadmill and a balance bar for her to work on her strength.

This Is Local London:

Part of the garden project was to install a gym to help Ellice's physio (Joe Barr)

Describing his daughter’s determination, Mr Barr gushed: “She’d had non-stop physio from August and she doesn’t moan. She’s always happy.”

The father-of-four also praised his other children, Chelsea, 18, and Caycee-Jo, 16, who live with their mother, and nine-year-old Jay, who he described as “brilliant.

“He has never moaned about the attention Ellice has got. He doesn’t bat an eyelid and plays with her all the time.”

Although Ellice will have to undergo more surgery, Mr Barr said: “It doesn’t faze her at all. She is always smiling.

“The support and well wishes we receive for her are just amazing.”