Anthony Horowitz joins guests at the Moonlight Ball for an evening in support of Suffolk families 

After 2 long years of uncertainty, the highlight of the Home-Start in Suffolk social calendar, the Moonlight Ball, finally made its long-awaited return last night welcoming more than 170 guests to the Hangar at Milsoms, Kesgrave Hall.

The event extravaganza treated the guests to a wonderful evening hosted by one of the charities patrons, Anthony Horowitz CBE author, screenwriter, and lover of Suffolk, who is passionate about the work Home-Start in Suffolk does to support struggling families across the county and has been actively championing the charity since he became patron 3 years ago. 

Anthony was joined by Home-Start in Suffolk CEO, Tara Spence, one of the recently listed top 100 most influential people in Suffolk and they were joined by the Chair of the charity, Rob Thacker who attended the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace this week alongside long serving volunteer Sylvia as they represented the organisations volunteers who received the Queens Award for Voluntary Service last year in recognition of their work. 

The evening raised an incredible £25,000 which will be used to help support families in the Suffolk community.

The Hangar looked stunning with its twinkling lights and Moon decorations as well as the beautiful Giving Tree centrepiece where guests were invited to pledge donations.  

Everyone enjoyed a delicious meal, had the opportunity to win some fabulous raffle prizes generously donated by Suffolk businesses and join in the bidding frenzy for the online auction, which was not exclusive to guests reaching a wider audience, and offered a collection of wonderful prizes including the very special prize; The opportunity to become a character in the next book in Anthony Horowitz’s series!

“I pledged to name a character in my next book in honour of the highest bidder!” Explained Anthony.  “And this will not just be a name check in the story; I will add extra details making sure that the highest bidder can be fully identified – in a way to be mutually agreed.

“Plus, there will be a special mention on the book’s acknowledgements page and a signed copy from me too!”

Home-Start in Suffolk CEO Tara Spence said: “We are thrilled that we have been able to host this year’s Moonlight Ball and we were honoured that Anthony was able to join us.  

“Anthony is an amazing patron who truly believes in the work we do.  We are delighted that he not only agreed to co-host the evening with me but donated the wonderful prize which sold for an impressive £2,650 in the auction!

“The Ball has exceeded all our expectations and has achieved so much not only in terms of fundraising revenue which will be used to fund recruitment and training for more fully trained volunteers but it was a chance to remind people what we do at Home-Start and how hard we work for families with children in the Suffolk Community.  Providing support and professional friendship at a time it is needed by so many.  In the last year we have seen our referral numbers rise significantly resulting in more than 900 families receiving support compared to 564 the previous year.”

Home-Start continues to look for volunteers from the Suffolk Community or those who may be interested in holding an event in support of the organisation, to get involved or for more information email ali@homestartinsuffolk.org or call 01473 621104.