A fundraising ball hosted by Gary Neville and his wife Emma has garnered over half a million pounds for a local charity.

Gary and Emma hosted the Great Mancunian Ball at Aviva Studios in Manchester city centre on 28 November, and raised £565,980 for a new St Ann's Hospice building in Heald Green.

The new hospice building will offer better and more modern services for patients at St Ann's - in all, it's a £26.5m construction project, due to be completed by Autumn 2025.

Present at the ball were Gary and Emma, as well as Roy Keane, Ian Wright, Jill Scott, and Jamie Carragher - together they hosted a live podcast discussing all things football and Manchester.

Also present were Sally Lindsay, representatives from St Ann's Hopsice, and a host of other stars.

Some of the stars at the Great Mancunian Ball at Aviva Studios on Thursday 28 November (Image via St Ann's Hospice)

Gary Neville said, "We are so proud to be supporting St Ann's Hospice by hosting The Great Mancunian Ball. It was an amazing event and a huge success for fundraising for the new hospice. We all had a brilliant event, but most importantly we were able to help this fabulous charity to make their new hospice a reality. 

"Emma and I have been lucky enough to meet the patients and staff at the hospice and every time we visit, we are blown away by the care and support. But you can see the building they are in now is getting tired and not working for them.  

"They deserve so much more, and they need a state-of-the-art hospice. They shouldn't be making do when they are caring for these patients and their loved ones who are facing the most challenging time of their lives." 

Emma Neville also said: "It was so special to visit the hospice and meet some of the patients.

"To be able to do this just before the ball was a fantastic motivator to raise as much money as we possibly could on the night. It reminded us all of what we are doing this for and the difference it will make to people in Manchester."

The new hospice building will replace the current 150-year-old site in Heald Green. It's due to open in Autumn 2025 (Image - St Ann's Hospice)

Rachel McMillan, Chief Executive of St Ann's Hospice, added: "The whole event has been incredible [...]

"For them to help us raise an astonishing £565,980 for the new hospice is truly extraordinary. It means the absolute world to us here at St Ann's and brings us even closer to our fundraising targets to build our new hospice" Rachel said. 

Liz Taylor, founder of Taylor Lynn Corporation (TLC), designed the event and also played a pivotal role in securing sponsorship to support the fundraising efforts for the new hospice. 

"It has been an absolute honour to be part of The Great Mancunian Ball and help bring this extraordinary vision to life", she said.

"We have been overwhelmed by the incredible support from all of our suppliers, who have gone above and beyond, generously donating their time and resources to support St Ann's Hospice."

You can donate to the St Ann's Hospice 'Built it Together' appeal here.

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