Friends and family of Matt and Suzanne Smith, teachers at The Cotswold School, raised £15,000 for The Emily Kent Unit, Paediatric Oncology at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and CLIC Sargent, the children's cancer charity.

They all got together at Glenfall House in Charlton Kings, Cheltenham for an exceptional night - The Benjamin Ball. Matt and Suzanne, along with lifelong friends David and Kelly Reed, were hosts of the charity event.

The charities are close to the Smiths' hearts as their four-year-old son, Benjamin, is currently receiving treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.

The evening involved a luxury tombola, a live auction, hosted by Taylor and Fletcher's Adrian Cannon, a silent auction, live music with Raise the Roof and dancing until the early hours.

Guests included Julie and Bernie Kent, parents of Emily Kent, who gave her name to the unit at the Children's Centre in Gloucester Royal. Also among the guests was ex-pupil and Love Island Star Chris Hughes, his brother Ben, specialist nurse Kelly Prosser and CLIC Sargent Social Worker Janet Byrne-Goddard.

Matt said: "The evening to say was a huge success, with a huge £15,500 raised. That combined with the £4,200 that we, along with the team raised running the Cheltenham Half Marathon gives a total just shy of £20,000! A fantastic amount. We want to thank all of those people who came on the night and to all those people who donated prizes for the auction and the tombola: Aston Martin, Sibling Gin, Jade Holland Cooper, The Lucky Onion Group, Cheltenham Racecourse, Dunkertons Cider, Superdry, Luke 1977, Worcester Cricket Club, Warwickshire Cricket Club, Majestic Wine, Elan Spa at The Greenway, Chapel Spa, Wayne Maxwell Designs, Alastair Currill Photography, Venture Photography, Lords of The Manor, Sandford Parks Lido, jockey Sam Twiston Davies and many, many others."