THOSE ladies who lunch raised an amazing £46,000 for a children's charity at a Mama Mia-themed lunch.

More than 300 people attended the annual event, held at the The Mere Golf Resort and Spa, which was transformed into a Greek taverna complete with olive trees.

Benefitting from their efforts was the Children's Adventure Farm Trust (CAFT), which provides holidays for terminally ill, disabled and disadvantaged children from all over the region.

Long-term supporters of the charity, Kellands, sponsored a diamond necklace worth £1,000.

And among the auction prizes was an exclusive day on the set of Cold Feet and the chance to appear in a scene, and tickets for a Little Mix concert.

A raffle proved to be particularly popular with the first prize being a Mulberry handbag worth £595.

Each guest was also treated to a fantastic goodie bag worth £70.

During the day, Hayley Smallman gave a powerful speech about her family’s experiences at CAFT.

She described how the charity made a huge difference to her desperately ill daughter Holly and the rest of her family.

Several guests were inspired to become Memory Makers following Hayley’s speech, pledging to sponsor holidays for children who will visit the charity for a holiday.

Organiser, Pippa Watton said: “Just when we think our ladies lunch can’t get any bigger, or better, we’re proved wrong!

"This year’s event was amazing, the theme brought a little sunshine to our otherwise disappointing summer."

She added: " Our ladies never let us down when it comes to fundraising and fun, there was a real party atmosphere from beginning to end. We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of our guests, and of course our fantastic sponsors, and really can’t thank them all enough.

"There are so many people who worked hard to make the event a success. It would have been impossible without them."