CASH donations and events for our Dorothy House Appeal are starting to build up momentum.

We are hoping to raise £30,000 to help pay for an extra nurse for the charity's Hospice at Home service.

As this is the hospice's 30th anniversary many of the fundraising ideas revolve around the figure 30.

Sue Baker, a volunteer at the Chippenham Dorothy House shop, is the first person to take up a challenge to raise at least £30 from the gift of a bottle of wine.

She was already planning a curry party at her home in Shaw, near Melksham, and raffled the bottle of wine, making £140 for the charity.

As part of the charity's 30th anniversary celebrations, they are giving away 100 bottles of wine to their regular fundraising volunteers.

But it is not just as simple as popping the cork and enjoying it with a nice three-course meal at home.

The volunteers will have to think up ingenious ways of using it to raise as much cash as possible for Dorothy House funds. The fundraising teams have made the following suggestions:

  • Throw a dinner party maybe serving coq au vin and ask your guests for a donation to Dorothy House;
  • Raffle your bottle of wine at 30p a ticket;
  • Come up with the most original idea for turning your wine talent into cash and Dorothy House will reward you with a bottle of very classy bubbly.

Punters at Neston Country Inn have been doing their bit for the appeal, raising £125 by singing their hearts out at a karaoke event.

Landlady Michelle Thot said: "We love fundraising and we've never done anything for Dorothy House so we thought it was about time.

"My barmaid's father died there and a chap in the village, Mike Robson, lost his wife Maggie at Christmas in Dorothy House. It means a lot to everyone here."