JULIA’S House staff teamed up with the Larmer Tree Festival to raise more than £1,500.

The Dorset and Wiltshire children’s hospice, which provides free respite for families of children with life-limiting illnesses across the counties, was picked as the festival’s charity partner and hosted a crochet workshop at Larmer Tree.

Festival-goers were given the chance to learn how to crochet a granny square to contribute to a blanket that is now being assembled to create a Larmer Tree blanket for the Julia’s House.

Over 80 squares were made by the people that visited the workshop, from complete beginners to seasoned crocheters.

On the last day of the festival, Julia’s House took part in the Out of this World-themed carnival procession along with around 500 festival-goers who all dressed up and danced round the gardens.

Donations were dropped into buckets by the generous and supportive Larmer Tree crowd.

Amy Kidd, Community Fundraiser at Julia’s House said: “We were thrilled to be the charity partner for this year’s Larmer Tree Festival and we couldn’t have had a warmer reception than we did onsite.

“People of all ages and abilities joined us to crochet a square for the Larmer Tree Festival blanket; it was great to meet so many people and to see piles of squares for the blanket grow hour by hour.

“Everyone was so generous with their time and donations and we have so far raised over £1,500 to help support the children and their families in Dorset and Wiltshire.”

Lucy Babb, Larmer Tree Festival Manager, said: “We’ve really enjoyed working with Julia’s House throughout this year, and we were delighted to see how popular their crocheting tent was at the festival.

“We’d like to thank them for joining us and also thank our festival-goers for donating so generously to them throughout the year and onsite, and also for helping create so many crochet squares! We can’t wait to see the finished blanket go to its new home.”