A VILLAGE festival which hopes to bring the community of Bishops Cannings together is raising money for our Julia's House appeal.

The ten day Bishops Cannings Festival got underway at the weekend with a number of Olympic themed events but the bid to use static bikes to cover the 5,705 miles from the village to Rio will go on until August 21.

Festival organiser Elizabeth Frearson said: "The festival is proud to be supporting the Gazette and Herald’s Charity appeal for Julia’s House, Wiltshire’s new children’s hospice.

"To raise funds for Julia’s House we are challenging local businesses to get from Bishops Cannings to Rio in time for the Olympics. It is only 5,705 miles door to door after all. Local organisations are invited to pit themselves against each other in the 24 challenge to see who can put on the most miles and raise the most money for Julia’s House."

One company that has already taken up the challenge is Cardwave in Devizes and it is now challenging other firms to get involved. It's staff managed to do 379.97 miles over two days and raised £429.74 online with additional donations added to a bucket. A spokesman said: "Local businesses will be provided with a static exercise bike and can choose to ride for 24 hours in a solid stint or to have the bike for two 12 hour slots.

"Cardwave is supporting the event and wants to encourage other companies to pit themselves against each other to do as many miles as they can over a 24 hour period, as well as raise funds through sponsorship. The fundraising event will end with the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games August 21 in Rio."

Paul Norbury, CEO of Cardwave, said: "We are delighted to support this fun, worthy fundraising initiative and want to challenge other companies to join in and compete with us. A short amount of time and effort can make a huge difference to a child and their family that need support from Julia's House".

Mrs Frearson hopes others will follow suit. She said: "We will be providing a party box to the business who rides the furthest, and hope that between us we can meet the 5,705 mileage target, in addition to raising funds for Julia's House."

To still make donations to the Cardwave staff in their Rio to Ride event go to www.justgiving.com/CardwaveRidetoRio or to enter a team go to www.bcpf.moonfruit.com