A SUMMER ball held at Chafyn Grove School has boosted the work of two charities in the Salisbury area after raising £18,000.

The Hearts and Stars ball raised £9,000 for both the Live Life Give Life charity that encourages people to register as organ donors and The Stars Appeal, which is raising £750,000 for a dedicated Breast Cancer Unit at Salisbury District Hospital.

The Friends of Chafyn Grove chose the charities because they have touched the lives of people at the school.

The ball took place in May and was attended by 260 parents and staff.

Much of the money was raised through an auction of promises with lots including holidays in France and Cornwall and VIP tickets for a Take That concert.

Cheques were presented to each of the charities by Jenny Read, chairman of the Friends of Chafyn Grove.

In addition, a further £830.62 was given to the Stars Appeal by the children as it was adopted as the Charity of the Term during the spring. A similar initiative was undertaken for Live Life Give life over the winter term.

Gemma Heath from the Stars Appeal said: "We are incredibly grateful to the pupils, staff and parents of Chafyn grove School for their amazing support of the Breast Cancer Unit campaign. The amount they have raised will most certainly help thousands of local breast cancer patients and they should be very, very proud of their efforts.”