A charity set up in memory of a ten-year-old girl from Colerne who died in a skiing accident has raised more than £20,000 in just three months.
Jemima Prees, a pupil at Calder House School, died during the February half-term while on a family holiday in Austria.
Her parents Tim, a lawyer in Devizes, and Karen, a GP at Batheaston Medical Centre, set up Jemima's Gift as a way of ensuring something positive came from the death of their daughter.
The charity's aim is to help other young people enjoy the activities and opportunities that Jemima loved, including music, sport and performing arts, as well as assisting those with disabilities and difficulties.
Mr Prees said the family had been bowled over by how much money had been raised in such a short amount of time.
He said: "I have been absolutely stunned by it.
"It has been really quite humbling to be aware of the number of things that are being done by people from all walks of life, some who had never met Jemima and others who knew her well."
He added: "It (the charity) has brought home to us how many people were touched by the story. We didn't appreciate at the time how it was going to affect the community.
"The support we have had from the village community, the school, relatives, our work colleagues, even people who we hardly know, has been overwhelming."
The donated money has been used to support a whole range of groups, organisations and individuals, with a new catacanoe for Chippenham Sailing and Canoeing Club, which can be used by people with disabilities, and a new horse for disabled riders at Widbrook Riding School at Bradford on Avon.
Jemima's head teacher Andrew Day is one of the trustees of the charity and said the fundraising had given the small school, which caters for children with dyslexia, something positive to focus on after the accident.
He said: "We are a very small school, there are only 48 children at Calder House, and when Jemima died it left such a huge gaping hole that affected all of us.
"It has just been great for the children to be able to support Jemima and they have come up with a number of different events to raise funds for Jemima's Gift."
One boy came up with the idea of walking through the night to school from his home in Malmesbury.
This so impressed his classmates that many of them have pledged to walk to school too, some from Bath and Chippenham, in an event next month.
Mr Prees said he hoped Jemima's Gift would help others to live by her philosophy of always trying to fit more into each day.
He appealed for anyone interested in fundraising or anyone who knew of a good cause the charity might like to support to get in touch.
For more information, email tim.prees@wansbroughs.com or visit www.jemimasgift.wordpress.com.
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