‘Great Gatsby’ ball raises £11,000 for charity

A “Great Gatsby” themed charity ball held at Mitton Hall Hotel raised almost £11,000 for a pioneering local charity.
Helen Warburton, patron of Raised in Ribble Valley, and Robin Kershaw, of Dancefloor Couture, at the Great Gatsby charity ball at Mitton Hall.Helen Warburton, patron of Raised in Ribble Valley, and Robin Kershaw, of Dancefloor Couture, at the Great Gatsby charity ball at Mitton Hall.
Helen Warburton, patron of Raised in Ribble Valley, and Robin Kershaw, of Dancefloor Couture, at the Great Gatsby charity ball at Mitton Hall.

Event organisers from fundraising group “Raised in Ribble Valley” have presented a cheque for £10,975 to Roger Dugdale, representing the Jigsaw Project – a free specialist therapeutic counselling for children, teenagers and adults of all ages in the Ribble Valley.

Held in January and organised by Helen Warburton of James’ Places, the Great Gatsby Charity Ball transported its guests back to the roaring 1920s for an evening of dining, dancing and digging deep! Ticket sales, a well-supported charity auction and an overwhelming number of donations of food, drink and services from local businesses all contributed to the magnificent total.

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Roger Dugdale of Dugdale Nutrition, whose initial funding made the Jigsaw project possible: “The charity is blown away by the support the event generated, we cannot thank the donors enough. The grand total is staggering and will enable Jigsaw to support another 20 individuals or families through therapeutic support.

Roger explained: “I approached Child Action North West two years ago because I was inspired by their work with the Jigsaw initiative in other areas of East Lancashire. I wanted to channel my family business success into enabling others by putting something back into the local community and I felt sure that there was a big need for the Jigsaw service here in the Ribble Valley. I have been funding it for two years, but due to the increasing need for the service, we have been reaching out to local businesses, which is how Helen became involved.”

Event Organiser Helen Warburton, patron of Raised in the Ribble Valley, said: “I was inspired by the work Roger was doing with the charity for the local community, I saw an opportunity to ‘give back’ by loaning support and a venue to a cause that I felt was doing great work in the area. The event at Mitton Hall was a huge success, I am overwhelmed by the generosity of the suppliers, local businesses and attendees and I would like to thank everybody who played a part.”

In the past 12 months the Jigsaw Project has worked with more than 100 individuals in the Ribble Valley, providing therapeutic counselling in situations where there has been an emotional trauma or where families are in crisis. People come with a wide range of issues including loss and bereavement, domestic abuse, anger management and addictions. The main areas of support have been around low self-esteem, separation, loss and anxiety.

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Because of the Ribble Valley’s comparative wealth with other more deprived areas, Jigsaw doesn’t attract the funding that is necessary to provide its services free of charge on an ongoing basis. It costs £50 to provide a one-hour weekly counselling session. Ten sessions, or £500, changes an individual’s life and has a direct positive effect on the rest of that family.

The £10,975 raised by the event brings the Raised in the Ribble Valley Jigsaw Project’s fundraising total to £18,651.00 since its launch in July 2014.

Helen Warburton and Roger Dugdale inside Mitton Hall. Photo by Zoie Carter-Ingham.

Helen Warburton, patron of Raised in Ribble Valley, and Robin Kershaw, of Dancefloor Couture, at the Great Gatsby charity ball at Mitton Hall.

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