SIX-YEAR-OLD Caitlin Peck may be one step nearer to unlocking her lifetime of silence thanks to a group of kind-hearted men who took off their clothes in a Full Monty-style strip show to raise cash to send her to America.

On her sixth birthday on Sunday at Lockeridge's Kennet Valley Hall, Caitlin received a cheque towards the cost of flying to Florida for the wonder therapy which her family hopes will break her silence.

Caitlin, whose grandparents live in Marlborough, was born with a rare form of Angelman's Syndrome called uniparental disomy which means she cannot speak and is unlikely ever to lead an independent life.

Her family heard that the therapy of swimming with dolphins has helped in many similar cases.

The little girl lives with her mother, Selena, and sister Leah, eight, in Swindon. Grandmother Cathy Flippence, of Five Stiles Road, Marlborough, launched the Caitlin Peck Appeal to help raise the £11,000 it's likely to cost to send Caitlin to Florida in the USA for the dolphin therapy.

When a group of customers at the Bell Inn in Overton heard of the appeal they hit upon the novel ideal of staging a Full Monty-style show to raise funds.

The intrepid team of about a dozen men, led by builder Andy Little, spent weeks training under choreographer Amberly Perkins before staging two shows to women only audiences in the Kennet Valley Hall in October and November.

Six of the men then did the Full Monty, staying on the stage without a stitch on and only their hats to cover their modesty.

The net result of the two shows plus sales of calendars showing the men in their raunchy routines brought in a total of £6,627.

On Sunday, Mr Little, of West Overton, invited Caitlin and her family to the Kennet Valley Hall to receive her cheque.

The grandfather-of-four said he was thrilled that the shows had raised so much money and it was the fervent wish of all of those who had been involved that the dolphin therapy treatment would help bring Caitlin out of her silence.

Mr Little said: "As soon as we heard of the appeal we knew we had to do something to help. We had never met the little girl before but now we have seen her several times and it made us all the more determined to raise the money to help her.

"We have had a lot of fun putting on the Full Monty and we know that the women in the audiences really enjoyed the shows. "All we are waiting for now is for Caitlin to go to Florida and for, hopefully, the news that her condition has improved as a result."

Mrs Peck said she found it difficult to express adequate thanks to the Full Monty team, not only for the money but for the concern they have shown for Caitlin ever since learning about her plight.

She said: "I really can't thank them enough and it is a tremendous help to the funds regardless of when we go to Florida."

Mrs Peck said the dolphin therapy at Key Largo only takes place during the summer months and was always booked up well in advance.

She said: "We always intended to go in 2003 but we can't say definitely when we will be going because it depends on whether there is a space."

Caitlin is showing some small signs of improvement thanks to special teaching she gets at Freshbrook School in Swindon, including being taught to use sign language. Mrs Peck said: "Her understanding is slightly better and since she has been at the school she is doing a bit more signing."

Mrs Peck said their hopes that the dolphin therapy might help Caitlin speak had been boosted last year when they met a family at Weymouth whose son had Angelman's Syndrome.

"They had been to Florida and they said it had improved his conversation and it had generally been a great benefit," she said.

Mr Little plans to reunite the Full Monty team later this year with two more shows in aid of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Leukaemia Research and Naomi House children's hospice.