THE countdown has started for one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for our Julia's House appeal.

The Devizes Friends group of the charity, which has just started worked on a new children's hospice in the town, is organising a gala ball at Dauntsey's School on September 3.

Chairman Alison Radevsky hopes an auction, which includes a week in a house in Barbados, will help the event raise thousands of pounds for our appeal.

We have pledged to raise £100,000 during 2016 to pay for carers for families in Wiltshire with children with life-limiting illnesses.

Mrs Radevsky said: "Nearly three quarters of the tables for the Julia’s House End of Summer Ball have already been sold.

"Devizes Friends of Julia’s House are delighted by the way the town is supporting the ball, with so many people and businesses keen to get involved in all sorts of ways.

"Preparations are going well, with tremendous help from Dauntsey’s School who are kindly hosting the event on their site in West Lavington."

Guests will arrive to a Prosecco reception sponsored by Mionetto and then a three-course dinner and music by the Will Blake Band and Archie Combe.

There will also be entertainment from a magician, sponsored by Clark Holt solicitors, a caricaturist, sponsored by Trethowans LLP, and a body painter.

The auction is expected to be a highlight of the evening with lots that include: a week in a house in Barbados; a guided tour around the air traffic control centre at Swanwick; dinner, bed and breakfast in the honeymoon suite at the Peppermill, Devizes; a weekend in a cottage in Bude, Cornwall; dance lessons from Dee Dee Wilde of Pans People fame and transport in a black Cadillac to lunch at Bishopstrow House.

Philip O'Shea, owner of the Peppermill restaurant and hotel, said: "I was pleased to donate this lot for the auction as I think it is wonderful that Julia's House is opening a children's hospice in Devizes.

"I think it will make a huge difference to families with very sick children. It is a fantastic cause and we are pleased the charity has chosen to open the hospice in Devizes."

Tickets are still available at £50 per head, £500 per table of ten, from Julia’s House, (01980) 677105.

n The date for another fundraising event is also fast approaching with the Julia's House teddy bears' picnic to be held on August 20 at the home of David and Letitia Scott in Nursteed village.

Refreshments will be on sale and Devizes Rotary Club is organising a barbecue.

The picnic is being organised by Vee Thursby from Patney whose granddaughter Sophia suffers from a number of severe medical conditions and is helped by carers and nurses from Julia's House.

Mrs Thursby, 61, who had a career in marketing and is the wife of a retired colonel, is organising the teddy bears' picnic at Nursteed House, and hopes families will turn out with their bears to enjoy an afternoon of fun and games.