DEDICATED grandmother Vee Thursby is determined to do her bit to help a charity which is making a huge difference to the life of little Sophia who suffers from severe medical conditions.

For the first 18 months of Sophia's life her parents, who live in All Cannings, struggled to cope but then Julia's House came into their lives to offer respite care for the two-year-old.

Now Sophia's grandmother Vee from Patney, near Devizes, has joined forces with the charity's friends group to raise much needed funds to help other families receive help.

A new Julia's House Hospice is to be opened in Devizes next year which will mean the Thursbys and other families can receive even more support. Mrs Thursby, 61, who had a career in marketing and is the wife of a retired colonel, is organising a teddy bears picnic at Nursteed House, Devizes on August 20 and hopes families will turn out with their bears to enjoy an afternoon of fun and games.

Julia's House supporters David and Letitia Scott are opening the grounds of their home for the event and Moonraker Bears of Sidmouth Street, Devizes will be sending along its experts to hold a bear hospital.

There will be lots of fun competitions for everything from the tallest to smallest bears, the best dressed and the one most people would like to take home.

Mrs Thursby said: "We are using this teddy bear picnic as a warm up for a much bigger one we are hoping to stage in two years time at somewhere like Bowood.

"We want to keep the entry price low so whole families can come along. We will also raise money by people paying a small fee to enter the competitions."

A giant teddy has been donated by Julia's House and this will be the prize in a guess the number of gummy bears in a jar.

Mrs Thursby praised Julia's House for the help given to her son Damien, daughter-in-law Rebecca and her grandson Harry by the charity. She said: "The help means Rebecca can spend time with Harry doing ordinary things so he does not felt left out."

Her daughter-in-law spoke of the difference the charity has made to the family's life when the Gazette launched its 200 appeal to raise £100,000 for the charity.

She said: "We used to be a family coping largely on our own with a severely disabled child with a life threatening condition. The stress we faced in coping with our daughter's level of care was taking its toll on our family. Julia's House changed our lives."

Sophia's medical condition means she has epileptic fits and can lose consciousness many times a day and needs to be resuscitated. She is also blind and is unable to talk or walk.

Julia's House now provides four hours of respite care a fortnight. Money raised by our appeal will pay for carers for families across Wiltshire.