THIS week the Gazette celebrates its 200th anniversary and to mark this historic occasion we are launching our biggest ever appeal to help some of the county’s most needy children and their families.

With your help we will raise £100,000 for Julia’s House which is opening a new children’s hospice in Devizes in 2017. The charity, which supports families with children with severe disabilities and life-limiting illnesses, receives just six per cent of its funding from the Government and must raise nearly £5 million in 2016.

Money raised by you will pay for carers who offer families a life-line and a way to cope when they are at their lowest ebb. They are people like the Thursby family from All Cannings, near Devizes, whose little girl Sophia, two, has multiple health problems.

A carer and nurse give mum Rebecca the chance to spend some time with five-year-old son Harry and do ordinary things other people take for granted.
She said: “The stress was starting to take its toll on our family. Julia’s House has been a lifeline.”

Gazette editor Gary Lawrence said: “We wanted to mark our landmark by helping to put something back into the community that has helped this great newspaper to flourish for two centuries.”

Julia’s House chief executive Martin Edwards said: “It means so much to us that the Gazette & Herald is backing Julia’s House. We can only do this with a high profile and the generosity of the public so I’m extremely grateful for this breakthrough support.”

Foe 18 months after the birth of their severely disabled daughter Rebecca and Damien Thursby felt they had been abandoned by health and social services as they struggled to cope.

But then Julia’s House children’s hospice came into the lives of the family from All Cannings, near Devizes, and suddenly they had support, advice and care. 

Mrs Thursby, 34, said: “We used to be a family coping largely on our own with a severely disabled child with a life threatening condition. 

“The stress we faced in coping with our daughter’s level of care was taking its toll on our family. Julia’s House changed our lives significantly for the better.”

This is why the Gazette has launched its appeal to raise £100,000 to pay for carers for the new Wiltshire arm of the charity. Julia’s House is to open a second hospice in Devizes in 2017 to complement the one it already has in Dorset.

But its outreach service providing respite care at home has already started in Wiltshire and is giving much needed help for families like the Thursbys.

Sophia is now two-and-a-half and has complex medical problems, including blindness and severe epilepsy, which can mean that she loses consciousness many times a day and needs to be resuscitated. 

She is unable to talk and has little muscle control, so needs constant care 24 hours a day.

Julia’s House now provides the family with four hours of respite care once a fortnight when a nurse and a carer come to their village home so Mrs Thursby can do normal things and spend one-to-one time with their five-year-old son Harry.

Mrs Thursby said: “I usually go for a run or take the dogs for a walk. Then I go and pick Harry up from school and give him my attention. 

“It is easy for him to miss out as so much time has to be spent concentrating on Sophia. It has made such a difference just to know I have those few hours.”

The couple had no warning signs that their second child would not be healthy like Harry. But she was born six weeks early at Salisbury District Hospital and doctors were worried that she did not open her eyes.

After many tests she was found to have a number of rare genetic conditions and severe epilepsy. 

Mrs Thursby said: “Beyond the medical help there did not seem to be much support. We very much felt we were having to cope on our own and to fight for everything. 

“But Julia’s House has also helped us by telling us about other help that is out there.”

Mrs Thursby, a quantity surveyor and her husband who is a full-time Army reservist, are delighted that Julia’s House will soon have a base in Devizes.

She said: “It will be lovely to have somewhere we can go and know there will be people around who understand Sophia’s needs.

“The Julia’s House hospice in Dorset is too far for us to travel to regularly.

"We are excited about the closer access to the additional facilities this hospice will bring. Julia’s House has provided our family with a lifeline.”

How to help

There are many ways you will be able to help throughout the year by joining in fundraising, organising your own event or giving to our appeal when you do something amazing such as running a marathon, sky-diving or abseiling.
You can make a difference straight away by filling in the form below or sending a text message donation or going on-line.

To make a donation of £10, send 200APPEAL to 70500. To make an online donation or for further information on the Gazette & Herald’s 200 Appeal for Julia’s House, please visit the hospice website's Gazette appeal page by clicking here.