ALMOST £11,000 has been raised for a Ribble Valley charity following a glittering ball.

A cheque for £10,975 has been presented to the Jigsaw Project, part of the Raised in the Ribble Valley initiative by Child Action North West.

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The money was raised at The Great Gatsby Charity Ball that transported its guests back to the roaring 1920s for an evening of dining and dancing at Mitton Hall Hotel last month.

Jigsaw is a free specialist therapeutic counselling for children, teenagers and adults of all ages in the Ribble Valley where there has been an emotional trauma or families are in crisis.

People come with a wide range of issues including loss and bereavement, domestic abuse, anger management issues and addictions. The main areas of support have been around low self-esteem, separation, loss and anxiety.

The money raised by the event brings project’s fundraising total to £18,651.00 since its launch in July 2014.

Roger Dugdale of Dugdale Nutrition, who made Jigsaw possible with initial funding for the project said: “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.

“I approached Child Action North West two years ago because I was inspired by their work with the Jigsaw initiative in areas of East Lancashire.

“I wanted to channel my family business success into enabling others by putting something back into the local community, I felt sure that there was a big need for the Jigsaw service here in the Ribble Valley.

“I have been funding it for four years but due to the increasing need for the service, we have been reaching out to local businesses, which is how Helen Warburton became involved.”

Event organiser Helen Warburton 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 people in the Ribble Valley.

Nicola Terry, from Child Action North West said: “‘The money raised will be put to good use supporting the families on our own doorstep dealing with issues that could affect any one of us.

“Because Raised in Ribble Valley means just that, money raised in the Ribble Valley goes directly to fund families here the Ribble Valley.

“Happy families are healthy families and that has got to have a positive effect on the place we live and the happiness and prosperity of our community.”