A hopeful mum's dream to open a respite centre for disabled children is finally just one step away following an eight year battle.

And now Dawn Raynor desperately needs the community to rally round to help make it reality.

She has passionately campaigned to create the centre for children and their families, raising around £225,000 along the way.

Now Dawn, and the rest of the team at the Give Us A Break 2010 charity, have finally found the perfect site for the much-needed centre and are just one step away from purchasing it.

But they need to find a further £200,000 by the summer and are pleading with the community to once again get behind the cause.

At the moment Dawn, from Moor Row, does not want to reveal the location of the earmarked small holding which would be transformed into the RaynorShine Centre as she wants to wait until the sale goes through.

But she said it is the perfect place.

"I'm bursting with excitement," said Dawn, who is well-known throughout West Cumbria for her passionate fundraising.

"This place is off grid and has everything we need – it's a diamond and we're buzzing that we've found it."

Once the charity has secured the money and purchased the building, Dawn and the rest of the charity's team can apply for extra grants and funding for the renovation.

"Once we have got that piece of land it opens up every door," she said. "We can then go to people with our business plan. It's going to need altered, but I think that once we get it, we are going to be inundated with offers of help."

The mum-of-three knows first hand the struggles that children with special educational needs and their parents in the area face and how much the centre is needed.

Her twin sons, 20-year-old Callan and Ethan, have tuberous sclerosis, and she says she has received little help and no respite or overnight stays.

There are over 2,000 children in the county with special educational needs – more than 800 alone in Copeland and Allerdale.

"I'm so passionate about his – it has to happen," added Dawn. "There's got to be somewhere for these children – and their families – to have a break.

"We have looked at so many places over the past eight years but nowhere has been right, but this is.

"It is the calmest, most peaceful place, it is truly amazing. This would mean everything to me, it's the ultimate dream. To be able to give the families and the kids would be amazing."

The group wants to be able to offer a range of features to give the children independence at the centre, including chickens, duck ponds and polytunnels. It will also be powered by a wind turbine.

"I want this centre to be community ran so that everyone can get involved," explained Dawn. "I want the children to be able to do what they want, if they want to climb trees or jump in puddles – let them. There's no limits, nothing is impossible.

"This will happen, I know it will."

A fundraising page has now been set up – visit wonderful.org/charity/giveusabreak2010 to donate.