The Swindon Advertiser has launched a campaign to raise £250,000 to help its local hospice.

Prospect Hospice in Wroughton is planning to launch the Prospect@Home service, which will see nurses caring for people in their own homes 24 hours a day, and the paper is lending its support in a bid to get it up and running as soon as possible.

The hospice hopes to raise £1m to get the scheme started and the Advertiser hopes that backing the campaign will ease pressure on it.

Lots of fundraising events are planned for the coming months, including a 'forfeit a fiver fortnight' that will ask people to do an activity such as forgo a packet of cigarettes for a week and donate the money to the appeal.

Editor Mark Waldron said: "The fantastic care and support at the hospice is something that has or will touch the lives of most of our readers.

"It is truly a local charity which everyone in the town can be proud of and we can measure the fondness of our readers by the amount they generously donate every year.

"Our wonderful readers have supported us before, from helping Swindon get its own dialysis unit to raising £1m for the Swindon Cancer appeal.

"And I am sure they will once again show their generosity."

The Prospect@Home service is due to be launched next year.