A FUNDRAISING event held to celebrate the life of a Troon woman has been voted a resounding success.

The inaugural “Birdie Ball” in memory of Rhona "Birdie" Clayton lived up to its pre-event hype and can now be judged as the premier formal event of 2017 in Ayrshire with organisers justifiably proud of the successful beginning to this project.

The sell-out evening took place on March 4 in the brand new ball room at the Seamill Hydro Hotel.

From the start the audience were regaled with mad cap humour from compare Billy Kirkwood and a dancing display from the Chrysalis dancers while magician Graham Dodd astounded with his close-up sleight of hand illusions.

After a sumptuous four-course dinner, the guests then danced the night away to the sound of the Riffreshers who allowed a one-off guest appearance from Louise Clayton (daughter of Rhona “Birdie” Clayton), who blew the room away with a couple of fantastic numbers towards the end of the evening.

In 2015 more than 2.5million people in the UK had a cancer diagnosis and were fighting this horrible disease.

Rhona was one of them. A dedicated mum, wife, sister, daughter, teacher and a wonderful friend to all, her passing has had an incredible impact on everyone who met her.

Rhona lived in Troon and worked at Dundonald Primary School and participated in local organisations such as Ladies Circle and Round Table with her husband Alan. Her passing was the inspiration to set up the Birdie Ball project.

Along with all the fundraising activities held in the lead up to the event the auction and raffle helped to raise more than £11,000 which will be presented to Cancer Research UK to help them in their work to find a cure for this awful disease.

Chairman of the organising committee Donald Paterson expressed his thanks to all who contributed to and who sponsored the evening, he was also pleased to announce that this will now be a biennial event and Birdie Ball 2 will be held on February 23, 2019.

But to keep things going a golf tournament is now being planned for 2018 “The Birdie 4 Ball” details will be released very soon so please keep checking the website www.thebirdieball.co.uk and the Birdie Ball Facebook page.