A CLAY pigeon shoot which has already raised £28,000 for our Julia's House appeal has now received an extra £15,000 to go to the charity which is building a new children's hospice in Devizes.

Bishops Cannings Cricket Club had raised a total of £55,000 for Julia's House and other charities from the shoot earlier this year but has now been given an extra boost.

Club chairman Ed Davies said: "We were contacted by people from the Kilcreggan Trust in Marlborough wanting to make this donation and asked us to choose which charity it should go to.

"As Julia's House was our main charity for the event we suggested it should receive the cash. This is fantastic news and rather spuriously brings our total for the shoot to £73,000 which is amazing."

Ged Montgomery from Julia's House has now written to the trust to thank the organisers for their generosity.

The clay pigeon shoot held at Wellington Barn also benefitted Devizes Opportunity Centre, Mycenae Gravis and Ataxia.

Mr Davies said at the time: "We were thrilled with the total. We still have other cheques to give out but we were delighted to be able to present a large amount to Julia's House. We had pledged to give the charity half of our profits."

He said the day had taken a tremendous amount of effort to organise but had gone off smoothly. He thanked club president David Sheppard for organising the practical side of the shoot and all of the teams that took part.

Mr Davies said the auction alone had raised £24,500 as people bid huge amounts for the opportunity to shoot on the Ramsbury Estate and for a holiday villa in Spain as well as other money can't buy lots. A meal for ten at his own home sold for £850. The raffle, which consisted of people buying envelopes containing the possibility of a prize for £20 each, raised £500.

Mr Davies said: "It was a truly wonderful day. Everyone had a fantastic time and seemed to really enjoy the novelty stands such as the axe throwing and pistol shooting.

"The weather was perfect for shooting. Cool in the morning and sunny in the afternoon. Seeing everyone enjoy themselves and raising so much money made all the work worthwhile."

He said at this moment he could not imagine doing it all again but did not rule out repeating the event again in two years time. He said: "To quote Steve Redgrave if anyone hears me talking about doing this again they have permission to shoot me. But in two years time who knows."