THE Argus Sparkle Appeal to raise £250,000 towards a planned £6m centre for disabled children will get a glittering boost.

Last month, Sparkle Day saw schoolchildren, bank and shop staff and hospital workers putting on the glitz for a day, raising almost £2,000 towards the centre.

Pupils from Eveswell Primary School and Crindau Primary School in Newport, staff at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Gwent branches of Barclays Bank and Marks and Spencer, all got glittery for Sparkle.

But organisers are promising that this year's Sparkle Day will be even bigger and better.

Tina White, project development manager, said the amount raised meant that almost 2,000 people throughout Gwent had supported the Sparkle Appeal on that one day - and this year's Sparkle Day, organised for Thursday, December 16, will have lots more events.

She said: "We want people to organise events for the Sparkle Day or even join a Sparkle Day group for organising events and offer eve-ryone new ideas on what they can do.

"This year will be better than ever."

Sparkle Day was one of the first events held to raise cash to build and equip the South Gwent Children's Centre which will be built at High Cross, Newport.

The centre will cater for 1,200 disabled children and their families living in Newport, Torfaen and south Monmouthshire, as well as future generations.