A mother-of-three hoping to raise £20,000 for a hospital which carried out a lifesaving operation on her three-year-old son had a second poignant reason to host a fundraising party in Trowbridge.

Former John of Gaunt School pupil Katrina Sharp, 26, organised a bash at the Wesley Road Club in Trowbridge on Saturday, April 25, to raise cash for the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

But the party, at which she had her head shaved, was also to celebrate the life of her father Michael Dennison, a well-known member of the Trowbridge biker community, who died of a heart attack in February at the age of 52.

Mrs Sharp, whose son Phoenyx needed an eight-hour operation to remove half of his skull in 2007 due to a rare condition, said her father had wanted to help with the fundraising campaign, but never got the chance too.

This prompted her to host the party in Trowbridge and invite Mr Dennison’s family and friends from the biker communities in Trowbridge and Ireland, where he moved to six months before his death.

Mrs Sharp, who now lives in Shellingford near Oxford with her husband Alistair, Phoenyx and two other children Marshall, seven and Temperence, one, said: Dad wanted to help the fundraising and organise bike rides and so on, but he never got the chance too.

“He told us he had wanted to help as much as he could.”

Mr Dennison, whose wife Elizabeth, 46, still lives in Trowbridge, was a member of several biker clubs in Wiltshire, including The Fallen and Unnamed. He worked at Ushers Brewery for 27 years and also spent time working at Bowyers.

After moving to Ireland he joined the Roe Riders, of which nine members came to the party in Trowbridge.

Mrs Sharp wants to raise the five-figure sum for the John Radcliffe to buy a cranial drill. The hospital has one of only four specialist cranial facial units in the country.

Phoenyx developed the conditions saggittal synostosis - which results in the skull crushing the brain - and macrocepyly (large head).

The life-threatening operation he underwent in 2007 was to remove half of his skull from the top of his forehead to the back of his crown.

Mrs Sharp said: “They pre-warned us and showed us pictures of what he would look like after the operation. He did look like a beach ball. He has a scar right across his head.

“He’s fine now and is a very intellignet little boy. He knows exactly what he is doing, but he does have a bad stutter.

“We have to carry on life as normal. We can’t dwell on it.”

Phoenyx’s condition was the only case of its kind in the country at the time.

The fundraising party raised £350, bringing the total so far to more than £1,000.

Mrs Sharp invited people to pay £1 to decide whether she should have her head shaved. The votes were then added up, with 75 per cent in favour of her doing it.

If anyone wants to donate money to the cause call Mrs Sharp on 07817 862135 or email her on katrina.sharp@btinternet.com