Malmesbury League of Friends has handed over £10,000 to Julia’s House children’s hospice to help it provide essential respite care for local families.

The league, which fundraises to support local people with specific medical needs, decided to make the generous donation after reading about the charity’s Together We Care Appeal, which is being backed by the Adver and its sister papers the Gazette and Herald and Wiltshire Times.

League members donated £25,000 to the charity to help open its hospice in Devizes five years ago – the only children’s hospice building in Wiltshire.

And in 2019 it purchased 14 new laptops for Julia’s House, which has enabled the charity’s community nurses to access each child’s bespoke care plan and to update notes immediately.

Chairman David Hide said: “We are delighted to provide further funds for this amazing charity, which currently supports around 60 families across Wiltshire with expert care, including families who live in the Malmesbury area.”

Martin Edwards, Julia’s House Chief Executive was delighted with the donation.

He said, “We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks again to David and the Malmesbury League of Friends for their amazingly generous donation to our Together We Care Appeal.

"It means such a lot to us that they have supported us through the toughest period in so many people’s lives.

"This new gift will help us to provide vital nursing care and pastoral support for local families, who have a child with a life-shortening or life-threatening condition.”

The Together We Care Appeal was launched in a bid to raise the £1.5m needed each year to provide a lifeline of care for the most seriously ill children and their families in Wiltshire.

It relies on public donations, legacies and fundraising to bring in 94 per cent of it.

At home and in the hospice, the charity’s specialist nurses and carers give exhausted families a break from caring round-the-clock for a child with hugely complex needs. It also offers emotional and bereavement support to families.

It relies almost entirely on donations to fund this free respite service and has appealed for more support to continue to be there for the growing number of children and families that depend on the charity’s care.

Find out more about Julia’s House and how you can support local families by visiting juliashouse.org