OUR 200 appeal to raise £100,000 for Julia's House children's hospice has only just started but there are already a number of people and businesses backing the charity's Wiltshire branch.

These include comedian Michael McIntyre who is to host a second charity show at The Apollo in Hammersmith on February 26.

His last gig for Julia’s House at Salisbury City Hall back in June sold out within two hours and raised enough money to fund a nurse.

The show proved such a success that Mr McIntyre immediately announced plans for this second date in support of the Dorset and Wiltshire children’s hospice charity.

Mr McIntyre first got to know about Julia’s House after attending the private fundraising event hosted by patrons Guy Ritchie and Jacqui Ainslie which raised the first million for a new children’s hospice which is to open in Devizes in 2017.

He then dedicated one of his tour warm-up shows to Julia’s House – to an audience that included Guy, Jacqui and some of the nurses – and then went on to host his Salisbury show exclusively for the charity.

Tickets for the one-night show on Friday, Feb 26th are on sale now and can be booked by going to https://juliashouse.org

The show proved such a success that Mr McIntyre immediately announced plans for this second date in support of the Dorset and Wiltshire children’s hospice charity.

LLOyds bank branches across the county are also backing Julia's House as their chosen charity of the year and Nationwide Swindon did a March to Marlborough event to raise cash.

The Robins speedway club in Swindon is another to back Julia's House as its charity of the year and the Larmer Tree Festival held near Salisbury last summer raised £1,750.

An easy way for you to help is by donating unwanted Christmas presents and and good quality clothes, household items, toys and furniture.

The charity is also in need of unwanted, unopened chocolates and bottles of alcohol to use in raffles and hampers at fundraising events.

Tracy Stanley, retail operations manager for Julia’s House, said: "A brand new unwanted Christmas present is a real gift for us to sell through our shops but any good quality items will really help. Donations can be dropped off at any of our shops but our store at Creekmoor is perfect for larger items like furniture. We’d like to thank everyone that donated and bought things in our shops in 2015, and we look forward seeing lots of you in our shops this year."

Caroline Attreed, Corporate Fundraiser at Julia’s House, said: “We always need good quality chocolates, drink and gourmet food with a long shelf life for hampers and raffles at our big events. If you can’t face finishing off your Christmas chocolates or you are having a dry January, we can help!”

Details of all of the location of Julia’s House shops and what items can be donated, can be found on its website www.juliashouse.org. To donate chocolates or drink, please call the fundraising office on 01202 644220.