CHRIS BISHOP A Think Pink Ball held at Carrow Road has smashed its target and raised £20,000 for the EDP Breast Cancer Appeal.

CHRIS BISHOP

A Think Pink Ball held at Carrow Road has smashed its target and raised £20,000 for the EDP Breast Cancer Appeal.

Proceeds from the event will help fund improvements to the breast care unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn.

This latest donation takes our total within a whisker of £265,000 and puts us over the halfway mark to our £500,000 target.

The event, at Norwich City Football Club, was organised by six women from Norwich, all of whose lives have been touched in some way by breast cancer.

It was attended by more than 370 guests, many of whom have also been affected by the disease, and received tremendous support from local businesses.

An auction hosted by Kevin Piper made a significant contribution to the total amount raised at the ball. He encouraged guests to dig deep and bid as high as possible for some impressive donations from local and national companies, as well as individuals.

Sarah Softley, of Softley Events, one of the six women organising the event said the group had been overwhelmed by the support that Think Pink has received.

"The Think Pink team begged, pleaded and cajoled local and national companies to support this event and we received tremendous support. I would like to thank everyone for their donations and gifts and particularly Jarrold, our headline sponsor," she said.

"I would like to pay tribute to the many people who attended the ball who, like us in the team, have personal and direct experience of this dreadful disease.

"I am delighted that together we have raised such a large amount of money for the breast care unit at Queen Elizabeth's hospital in King's Lynn which provides much-needed facilities for those women and their families in Norfolk who are diagnosed with breast cancer.

"It's close to consulting rooms and offers a dedicated counselling suite. It's designed to provide an environment which helps people absorb vital information about their diagnosis in peace and quiet, and to help make a traumatic time a bit easier."