Hospice charity ellenor – which supports families facing terminal illness in Gravesham, Dartford and Swanley – celebrated its 30th birthday in style by holding the Orange Ball and raising £62,000.

Held at The Grange, St Paul’s it was the charity’s first London ball and attended by all of ellenor’s celebrity patrons: Charlotte Hawkins from Good Morning Britain; TV property expert, Phil Spencer; Tom Parker from The Wanted; and former EastEnders actress Cheryl Fergison.

On arrival, guests were entertained by singer Jamie Johnson, a finalist in The Voice and balloon modeller extraordinaire, Miss Ballooniverse.

The star-studded evening included a balloon raffle, a silent auction and a live auction, hosted by ex-England cricketer, Chris Cowdrey.

Lots included two VIP hospitality tickets in the Premier League hospitality box at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal v Manchester City; a behind-the-scenes tour of the Good Morning Britain studio with Charlotte Hawkins; lunch at 1 Lombard with Tom Parker; and a Harley Davidson motorbike, kindly donated by the Mayor of Tunbridge Wells, Cllr David Elliott, who is supporting ellenor during his year in office.

ellenor’s children’s hospice care team is the only service in the county to provide care to seriously ill children in the comfort of their own home and consistency of support for teenagers who later require care as adults. ellenor gives round the clock care and as a charity – not part of the NHS – needs to raise over £6.7 million each year to care for families facing terminal illness.

Guests were introduced to Liz Green and Matthew Wenham, the parents of one of ellenor’s young patients, one year-old Mia, who gave an emotional account of how the care provided by ellenor has helped them to cope with the shock of finding themselves with a terminally ill child.

Liz said: “With the 24/7 help and support of ellenor, we can care for Mia at home. We could be blessed with five to 15 years with our precious daughter and, every year we reach will be a milestone. I feel safe knowing ellenor will be by our side throughout.”

Moved by what the couple said, a number of guests pledged to pay for hours and days of care with £180 paying for a day of care provided by one of the specialist children’s nurses at ellenor.

In total, £8,700 was raised through these pledges and the charity is keeping this open on its website at www.ellenor.org/events/event-details/orange-ball-pledges

Rachel Holweger, fundraising director at ellenor said: “We rely on the community to help us continue supporting the growing number of children and families that need our care – so we are delighted to have raised such a fantastic amount at our very first Orange Ball.

“Thank you to everyone who made this event so special – including our wonderful celebrity supporters. We are already looking ahead to next year and making plans for the Orange Ball 2016.”