Star-studded event at Bowood nets cash for hospice
11:00am Thursday 21st March 2013 in Latest News By Anne Moore
Tommy and Marie Walsh, Martin Roberts and Naomi Handford-Jones
A ball held at Bowood last weekend has raised more than £10,000 for Dorothy House Hospice Care.
Naomi Handford-Jones, 50, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in December 2010, held the event to thank the charity for its support during a difficult period of her life.
She was given the diagnosis after a routine breast check-up and the devastating news was confirmed a few days before Christmas.
Ms Handford-Jones, from Heddington, said: “When the diagnosis sent me reeling they were there to counsel me through a difficult time.
“A Dorothy House nurse specialist came to me in my home. “She was wonderful and she really made me feel positive about an otherwise negative situation.”
The cancer had spread in both breasts and to her bones.
Although her diagnosis has not changed, she has responded well to treatment.
For the primrose ball she called in a few favours as a former events manager and booked celebrity stars Tommy Walsh from Ground Force and Homes Under The Hammer’s Martin Roberts. Martin, who hosted a charity auction, used his charm to get pilot Tony Hughes, from Wiltshire Microlight Centre, to offer two flights instead of one to bidders.
Guests at the ball also included Oscar-nominated film director Christopher Miles, Claire Rendall from DIY SOS, Perry Chadwyck-Healy, chairman of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, and doctors and nurses from Dorothy House Hospice Care.
