MANY people start each new year with a grand plan to get fit but Wiltshire councillor Laura Mayes set herself the target of running every day in 2015 and managed to complete the task.

Mrs Mayes, 49, of Roundway Park, Devizes, was so determined not to miss a single day that even when she was on a yachting holiday she swam to shore each day so she could put in the miles.

Now her efforts have paid off from our 200 Appeal to raise £100,000 for Julia's House children's hospice as she has decided to donate £1 for every kilometre she covered and is giving £1,400.

She said: "I was inspired by a story the Gazette covered last year when a man ran everyday in 2014. I made up my mind to run every day in 2015 but it is a very difficult thing to do.

"There are some days when you get home and you just don't feel like putting on your running shoes and going out. Other days if you are feeling under the weather you want to curl up and rest. But my family was very supportive and encouraged me to go out even if it was for just a mile."

But instead of feeling relieved when 2015 came to an end and she did not have to run she has carried on going out every day. She said: "I had become so used to it I didn't want to stop but at least there is no pressure now to have to go out."

Mrs Mayes, who is the Wiltshire Council portfolio holder for children's services, said she wanted to back our appeal as she was aware of the tremendous job done by Julia's House to help families with disabled and sick children.

She said: "I knew about its work and then when I saw the launch of the Gazette's appeal I decided to give the £1,400 in support."

The charity which only gets six per cent of its funding from the Government will need to raise about £5 million in 2016. Our appeal will pay for carers to help families throughout Wiltshire.

Planning permission has now been given for a children's hospice to be built at the old Kennet District Council site at Browfort, Devizes. It is expected to open by autumn 2017.

It is not the first time that Mrs Mayes, who has two teenage sons, has backed a Gazette appeal by running. In 2014 she raised £1,000 for our campaign to help Devizes Opportunity Centre by completing the Bath Half Marathon.