A business in Harpenden has helped raise more than £6,500 for people with life shortening illnesses.

More than 160 people turned up to a charity event at The Ardmore House Hotel last week, which was the brainchild of Peter and Kath Barker - founders of St Albans’ The Chocolate Wrapper, a manufacturer of personalised chocolate confectionary.

Peter Barker, who was raising money for The Hospice of St Francis, said: "The event was a fabulous success and everyone had an amazing time.

"A dear friend of ours, Paul Atkins, passed away at the Hospice in June at the age of 54 just six weeks after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

"We were so impressed with the level of care and support that he and his family received during those difficult days that we wanted to show our support for what is truly an important local charity."

Paul’s widow Caroline, from Harpenden Road, said: "Losing Paul has been a huge shock.

"We all miss him so much but the care and support the Hospice gave all of us was phenomenal. Everyone was so caring - it was like being looked after by family rather than people who don’t even know you."

Auction prizes on the night included the chance to spend the day with Olympic medallist Tom Daley, watching him train at Stratford’s Olympic Pool.

Pete added: "As Founders of The Chocolate Wrapper we knew that whatever we did had to involve chocolate and so the idea for The Chocolate Ball was born.

"We launched the idea when we were on holiday in August and I set myself the goal of having something sorted, booked and promoted by the time we returned home.

"Amazingly we managed to build and launch a web site, book a venue, run a teaser campaign on Facebook and launch the event whilst we were away.

"Within 12 hours of launching we’d sold over 70 tickets. Within a week we’d sold over 150 and before the end of August the event had sold out."

The Hospice of St Francis is the only Hospice with an inpatient unit that cares for people in the St Albans and Harpenden area.

It provides free care for people living with life-shortening illnesses across Herts and Bucks, and supports their families and carers.

This care costs £4.7m a year to fund and only 20% comes from the NHS. The Hospice relies on voluntary donations for the rest.

Harriet Karia, head of community fundraising at the hospice, said, "We are so grateful to Peter and everyone who contributed to this fantastic event. The amount they’ve raised - £6,423.38 is fantastic and the organisation and commitment to making sure that everyone literally had a ball has been amazing. It’s such a joy to support and to have the support of such dedicated and driven community fundraisers."