MORE than 300 guests attended a charity ball held at Tregenna Castle in St Ives, raising over £9,000 for local and national charities.

Held bi-annually, this year’s charity ball aimed to raise awareness and much-needed funds for Macmillan South West and MS Society UK, two charities that are close to the organisers’ hearts.

Emma Sparks, together with best friends Tamsyn Hall and Morwenna Rice, organised the event, including raising money to fund it beforehand and working with local businesses to drum up support.

Emma said: “We wanted to do something different to raise money for these charities that provide fantastic support for people suffering from cancer and multiple sclerosis, including those in our own families, which is why it’s so important to us.”

“It’s a lovely thing to be involved in, and a lot of hard work, but we couldn’t do it without the great support we receive from local businesses and, of course, each other.”

The theme of this year’s event was The Snow Ball, with guests being treated to a drinks reception from Burdett Wines, a three-course dinner from Tregenna Castle, entertainment from Phase 2 Disco and local band Sandy Acre Seven, plus photobooths, casino tables and decorations from Canny Camera, Cornwall Entertainment, Infinity Event Hire and Ballooning Buds & Bows.

Local businesses also donated raffle prizes, matched donations and generally got involved with supporting the event and fundraising in various ways.

Fellow organiser Tamsyn said: “The businesses we’ve approached have been so generous and supportive, giving us some amazing raffle prizes including hotel stays, food and drink vouchers, handmade jewellery pieces and even a Mercedes of choice for the weekend!”

Morwenna added: “We’re so proud of what we’ve achieved this year, selling more tickets and raising more money than we have in previous years, so we can’t thank those who’ve supported us enough.”

Andy Jarrett, Area Fundraiser for MS Society UK, said: “Emma, Tamsyn and Morwenna have done a fantastic job in organising this event, all in their spare time, and we’re so grateful for all their hard work. We’re a charity with limited resources and budget, so if we didn’t have people like them making such an amazing effort to help, we wouldn’t be able to continue the vital work we do.”

The next charity ball will take place in November 2020, with a 1920’s/Great Gatsby theme, and the organising team are already working on plans for the main event and fundraising activities to support it.

Emma said: “We want to make our next event bigger and better than ever, and we already have some ideas on how we’re going to do that. We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported this year’s event and hopefully, you’ll be happy to support the next one – we’ll be in touch!”