A children's hospice in Leicestershire is getting its largest ever grant from the national lottery.

The Rainbows Hospice in Loughborough is getting �650,000, but says it needs even more money.

Rainbows, which cares for disabled children from across the East Midlands, will use the lottery money to fund one extra bed.

In Lincolnshire, almost �400,000 from the New Opportunities Fund, a lottery-funded initiative, will go to hospice projects and carers-at-home.

Music therapy

About �390,000 will go to the Lincolnshire South West Primary Care Trust, which covers the Lincoln and Gainsborough areas, and Children's Palliative Care for Lincolnshire, a county-wide organisation.

Another �400,000 from the lottery fund will be spent on adult palliative care in West Lincolnshire.

The hospice must raise �200,000 a year to keep the extra bed open Ian Higginbotham Rainbows Hospice

"People don't appreciate that looking after some of the children who come here is a full-time job for some families - and we offer the child a break as well as the family," said Ian Higginbotham, chief executive of Rainbows Hospice in Loughborough.

"We have a jacuzzi room, aromatherapy and music therapy that the children really enjoy."

Jane Small, whose daughter Ella has been visiting the hospice for the past five years, says her family would be lost without it.

Hospice staffs say the additional funds will make a difference, but they want more commitment from the government, which currently provides less than 11% of their total costs.

"The hospice must raise �200,000 a year to keep the extra bed open," Mr Higginbotham said.