A group of business people have raised £18,000 for charity.

The inaugural Kirklees and Calderdale annual Christmas lunch in aid of the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice at Bradley was held at the Cedar Court Hotel, Ainley Top, sponsored by Crowther Accountants and attended by 240 people from the local business community. Magician John Danbury entertained and acted as auctioneer. Huddersfield New College’s Performing Arts Group performed alongside Musica Kirklees’ string quartet.

The organising committee features local businesses including James Robinson Fibres Ltd, Cedar Court Hotels, Chadwick Lawrence, Stafflex Ltd, Crowther Accountants, TopicUK and Faith PR.

Nadio Granata, chairman and head of marketing at Stafflex, said: “We have already set the date for next year to Thursday, December 7, 2017 and are talking to charities about next year’s event.”