OUR appeal for Julia's House is blooming after a plant nursery held a sale and donated £850 to the cause.

Julia's House is opening a children hospice in Devizes next year and we have pledged to raise £100,000 to pay for carers for families in Wiltshire who have children with sick or disabled children.

A weekend of selling plants by West Kington Nurseries, near Chippenham, brought a major boost as thousands of people flocked to the business, which is one of the largest wholesale plant growers in the region.

The weekend raised a total of £1,500 and two other charities will also benefit. Wiltshire Air Ambulance and the Orchard Vale Trust will each receive £350.

Lis Goodman from the nursery said: "It was a very successful weekend. We will be raising more money for charity at our autumn open weekend – September 3 and 4 – and we are hoping that our visitors will help us to beat last year's record amount."

Owner Mark Jackson had promised visitors an enormous number of plant varieties and a huge site to explore. Those who turned up were not disappointed and were happy to pay for catalogues in support of the charities.

He said: "We always look forward to welcoming enthusiastic gardeners to our events and this year we were delighted to to be supporting Julia's House as our main beneficiary."

People who want to support Julia's House in other ways can join the buy a brick appeal. Duplo bricks are on sale for two for £5 or four for £10. Money raised will go go help build, equip and run the hospice in Devizes and the bricks will also be available for the children to play with once it is open.

Posters are going up throughout Devizes to publicise a ball being hosted by the Devizes Friends of Julia's House in aid of our 200 Appeal. It will be held at Dauntsey's School, West Lavington on September 3. To book a table contact Liz Froud on (01980) 677105.

Devizes Friends also will be having a stall at the Devizes Food and Drink Festival on May 14 with a guess the weight of the cake game and cakes for sale.