Winter Wonderland Ball raises over £12,000 for the Butterfly Appeal

The proceeds of a bi-annual ball held in Bury St Edmunds has helped to raise an amazing £12,091.73 for the Butterfly Appeal.

The Winter Wonderland Ball was held at Ashlar House and attended by over 200 people who enjoyed a three-course meal and were entertained by a live band.

It took place in November and now the profits from the event, which also included £4,000 raised from a raffle, have been handed over to the My WiSH Charity, which is running the appeal to help raise £340,000 to build a special garden area for end-of-life patients at the West Suffolk Hospital so they can spend some of their final days or hours with their loved ones.

The ball was organised by Stephen Trowles, who owns the Stephen John salon on the Moreton Hall Estate.

There was an auction which helped to boost the amount of money raised and among the prizes included a trip to Spain for a weekend of golf, a box at the Wimbledon tennis championships, treatment at a local spa, meals at restaurants in Bury St Edmunds, and much more.

And the raffle, which was held at the salon, made an impressive £4,000 towards the total.

Stephen has long been a big supporter of the My WiSH Charity and is an ambassador for the appeal which he said is “close to his heart”.

He has fitted wigs for women who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy and was instrumental in creating a calendar for the Macmillan Unit at the hospital in 2015 where patients and nurses wore wigs and were photographed.

It was the third ball of its kind that he has organised with £6,550 being raised in 2015 and £6,820.80 in 2017 which he dedicated to his mother Brenda Avison who in 2016 was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a few months later.

Stephen said he runs the balls once every two years always close to Christmas and said of the latest night: “It was a great event. The appeal is so close to my heart and the staff at the hospital are just walking angels.

“It would have been great to have had the garden during my mum’s time in the hospital as she would have loved it.”

Sally Daniels, My WiSH appeal manager, said: “We asked Steve to be our ambassador as he is as passionate as we are about the Butterfly Garden. He would have loved to have a space like this for his mum when she was in the hospital for so long. His own garden is just beautiful and he has already started growing some cuttings for us so he really will be part of the whole project.”

Pictured above is Steve Trowles, the owner of Stephen John salon on the Moreton Hall estate, and his manager Gareth Wright, with Sally Daniels, My WiSH appeal manager, holding a cheque for the money raised at the Winter Wonderland Ball.