Our appeal to raise £30,000 for the Dorothy House hospice to mark its 30th anniversary is being backed by a group of mums from Devizes.

The four women, who have been friends from school days, hope to raise up to £2,000 by staging a ball in the town hall on Saturday.

Helen Penfold, Penny Trusler, Clair Webb and Tracey Moore, who all still live within a few miles of Devizes, discovered that three of them have had relatives looked after by Dorothy House carers.

It all came to light after the recent death of Mrs Penfold's father, Alan Wood, who died in October last year at the age of 66 of pancreatic cancer, which was diagnosed only a few months after he retired as facilities manager at the health HQ at Southgate House in Devizes.

Mr Wood's last days were eased by the skills of Dorothy House staff, but the family were also greatly helped by the support of friends.

Mrs Penfold said: "I organised a party in February to say thank you to all our friends who had rallied round.

"It went so well we thought it would be a good idea to do something to raise money for a charity and Dorothy House was the obvious one."

Mrs Trusler added: "Three of the four of us have had relatives who have been helped by Dorothy House. It is a remarkable organisation and they have been fantastically helpful to us while we organised the event."

The Spring Ball takes place on Saturday at Devizes Town Hall. There will be a three course sit-down meal followed by a disco. The quartet were hopeful of a full house on the night, until some ticket holders dropped out after discovering they were due to take part in the Run for Life in aid of cancer charities the following day.

So a few tickets are still for sale and the mums have also put out a plea for raffle prizes. Mrs Penfold said: "If we sell no more tickets, we will have raised around £1,400 but that is not taking into account the raffle.

"Hopefully, if we sell all the tickets and the raffle goes well, we can push the total up even further."

Anyone wishing to buy the last few tickets or donate a prize, should phone Penny Trusler on (01380) 812967.

Money raised from out appeal will help pay for another nurse for the charity's hospice at home service.