THREE hundred guests enjoyed a night of dining and dancing to kickstart the festive season.

The annual St Richard's Hospice Snowdrop Ball at Worcester Sixways raised over £26,000 for the charity.

Guests were treated to a three course meal and then flooded the dance floor to listen to live music from local band Killerstream and for a disco.

Rachel Jones, fundraising manager at St Richard’s Hospice, said: “The Snowdrop Ball was a wonderful night of fun and celebration with a real party atmosphere.

"It’s a highlight of our events calendar and it’s great to meet old friends and new supporters in such a relaxed setting.

“We are very grateful to Britannia Bennetts of Malvern and Gemini ARC who sponsored the event.

"It’s a massive team effort and we would also like to all the companies involved, everyone who donated items for the auction and raffle, Tesco for the welcome drink, and all the volunteers who helped make such a special night including those from Barclays and Npower.”

A casino was also open and the auction raised £8,500 led to auctioneer Will Kerton from Knight Frank.

Lucky guest Kevin Watkins was the winner of the text raffle game, scooping £400 of shopping vouchers.

St Richard’s Hospice provides free specialist palliative care for patients living with life-limiting illnesses and supports their families.

Each year the hospice team supports over 2,500 patients and family members in Worcestershire with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

In the In-patient Unit, specialist staff are on hand 24 hours a day to manage patients’ symptoms and where, if appropriate, patients may spend the last few days of life in comfort and dignity.