A FUNDRAISING ball at the Coniston Hotel organised by events management students raised some £3,200 for Manorlands Hospice.

Sisters, Sophie and Emily Baker from Long Preston organised the event as part of their course at The Craven College.

And, the Manorlands Hospice Ball was a great success raising much needed funds for the charity.

Held on April 13, there was a raffle, which raised more than £1,000 and included prizes donated by businesses including Heathcote Antiques and the Coniston Hotel itself.

Sophie said: “We were overwhelmed with the generosity of businesses who supported the event and people who gave their services for free. Matt from Herrington Photography got some great shots on the night, Dave Robinson was the fantastic MC and DJ Jack played the tunes to get us all dancing”.

Emily added “We were delighted with the massive turnout and the popularity of the event. Everyone wants us to do it again next year so we are excited about it becoming a yearly event”.

Molly Ralphson, community fundraiser for Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice said “Sophie and Emily did a fantastic job organising the ball. They had to change the date because it was originally planned when we had all that snow, so to continue with it and raise such a fantastic amount for the hospice is brilliant. Everyone at the hospice is really grateful to them and we know how useful the donation will be in being able to continue providing our specialist care”.