DEDICATED charity fundraiser Ann Blunden is putting her new found jewellery making skills to good use by selling her creations to raise money for Julia's House.

Mrs Blunden has already raised £250 for the charity, which next year will open a new children's hospice in Devizes, by holding a coffee morning at her Urchfont home.

Now she is using her spare time to make jewellery that she will sell at this year's Urchfont Scarecrow Festival from April 30 to May 2. Mrs Blunden, 78, recently took classes to learn jewellery making and is now wants to use her craft to raise money for Julia's House.

She said: "I have supported a number of other charities in the past but when I heard about Julia's House setting up a children's hospice in Devizes I thought it would be a good one to fundraise for.

"I haven't been making jewellery for long but I really enjoy it."

Her husband John has also done his bit for Julia's House by donating a £40 fee he got for giving a lecture on airships to the cause.

The Urchfont Scarecrow Festival is billed as the oldest in Wiltshire and was started in 1997 after a villager had been to one in Derbyshire. It began as a small scale event to raise money for the village hall but it is now staged over three days of the May Day bank holiday and has around 50 scarecrows made by families, groups and individuals in the village.

Last year it raised more than £20,000 for village causes and charities. Wiltshire Air Ambulance was given £2,000. People come from all over the country to pit their wits on the scarecrow trail quiz and a number of people from overseas now make it a regular date.

The theme for this year's event will be A World Of Firsts.