Nine-year-old Chloe Allan from Queens Crescent is involved in the project, which uses tailor-made computer games and is being piloted at the Cerebral Palsy Research and Therapy Centre, with ten other children from the north east.

The project has been made possible thanks to a partnership with the region's leading child health charity, The Children's Foundation, and a grant of £4,500 from Cash for Kids.

The children, all affected by cerebral palsy, are taking part in the trial, which uses innovative computer games, specially written by local software developer Giordano Ferdinandi.

Working with Janice Pearse, Occupational Therapist at the Cerebral Palsy Research and Therapy Centre, who specialises in therapy for children with cerebral palsy to develop muscle control, Giordano has created two computer games which are used with Wii controllers and are proving a big hit with the children.

The grant from Cash for Kids is now being used to supply more equipment and to develop a further two games.

The children initially visit the Cerebral Palsy Research and Therapy Centre for an assessment and the games are adapted to suit their specific needs, before being able to take a laptop and controllers away, to practice the games in their own time and in the comfort of their own home.

One of the games developed is 'Brick Break' where the object of the game is to break all the bricks by hitting them with a ball and once the player has done this, they move onto the next level, which becomes more and more difficult.

The second game being given to the children is 'Sunset' which uses bubbles rising out of the water with the aim of bursting as many bubbles before the sun sets.

Again, when the children complete the first level, the consequent levels then get harder.

The games differ to commercial games used on computer consoles as they aren't as fast paced and as complicated and the children are given both Wii controllers and a computer and the games are programmed so that in order to play the games, they must use both hands, encouraging the use of the weaker hand and improving the child's co-ordination.

Chloe's mum Marie said: "Chloe loves playing the games and is getting really good at them. She can even beat her brother now.

"Already we have seen a change in how she sometimes uses both her hands, without even thinking about it. Just the other day, she had a fall and instinctively she put both her hands out in front of her.

"That just showed us how using both Wii controllers with these games is strengthening her left arm and encouraging her to use it more everyday."

Janice said: "We are delighted to have been given a grant from Cash for Kids to further develop the package of games we currently have on offer.

"The two games initially given to the children are proving to be working really well and they love the fact that they are able to play them at home.

"However, they need new challenges to keep them entertained and so this funding will help Giordano develop two additional games to give to the children.

"We have already heard from the children that they really enjoy the games and this form of fun therapy really is seeing results. We have found that this is much more motivational and enjoyable for them than conventional therapy, such as stretching exercises, and that if they enjoy doing something, they will continue doing it and it works so much better.

"There are in fact two children who, since using the games on the laptop, together with the Wii controllers, can now use some of the easier games available on the Wii console.

"This is a major achievement as it means our games are helping strengthen their 'never learned to use' arm and that they can now join in with the rest of the family and their friends and feel more included and independent."