Charity ball raises over £10,000 for young homeless people

A charity ball held at the Fence Gate has raised a huge £10,184 for local homeless project SafeSpace, which provide supported accommodation in Pendle and Rossendale for young people between the ages of 16 and 21.

The ball was the organised by local couple Lisa and Steve Nicholas, and saw people 205 people don their glad rags and dig deep for the Pendle-based charity as they danced the night away to Adam Parker Brown, and enjoyed magical entertainment from Chris Cooke. 

The event attracted support from a number of local businesses including Barnfield Construction and NPM Bathrooms with prizes being auctioned including a £2,000 bathroom, an evening with Michelin Star chef Tom Parker, of The White Swan, Fence, a private tour of parliament including dinner donated by Andrew Stephenson MP, the use of a McClaren car for the weekend, courtesy of Luxe Occasion Wear, and a framed England shirt signed by Alan Shearer provided by Scruples Menswear, also of Barrowford.

Charity manager Claire Bennett said: “We’re so grateful to Lisa and Steve for organising the event, to everyone who came along and dug deep and to the fantastic local businesses who provided some top class prizes.

“We are now into our 21st year of our charity delivering support, and it’s great that we’ve been able to celebrate in this way. We’re truly overwhelmed and humbled by everyone’s generosity. The money raised will have a direct impact on young homeless people’s lives right here in Pendle”.

Ball organiser Lisa Nicholas said: “We’d heard about the great work SafeSpace do locally, and wanted to help to raise money for them. The work that the team do there really is changing the lives of people right on our doorstep. It’s been really rewarding. I’d encourage anyone who has some free time to try helping them out with fundraising”.

The focus for SafeSpace’s fundraising activities now turn to their mass sleep out on Pendle Hill, Survival On the Summit, which will take place overnight on 29th June.