Friends and family of Nicole Ferguson, from St Florence who passed away aged 48 last year from breast cancer came together on Saturday evening to attend a fundraising Gala Ball in Tenby

Around 130 people attended the ball at the De Valence to celebrate the life of Nicole, and kickoff the fundraising efforts for the ‘This Is Me’ charity.

To start the evening guests were entertained by St Teilo’s School Choir with ex-pupil Kiah Lindsay on lead vocals. Paul Rapi beautifully conducted the choir, aged from four years to 11, to songs from The Greatest Showman, one of Nicole’s favourite films.

A three course meal was served by local chef Mark Philips and his wife Sue and their team from The Stone Crab, Saundersfoot.

The team had very generously closed the restaurant for the evening and given their time and services to the Ball.

During dinner, Stagecoach Performing Arts from Carmarthen entertained with singing and dancing.

The main event of the evening was an auction, conducted by Mark McSweeney.

There were many items generously donated by local businesses and friends, raising a staggering £5,871!

Holidays, sporting memorabilia, gifts, paintings, tours were among some of the fabulous prizes!

And an extensive raffle raised a further £1,200 to the sum.

Local writer and poet Nicky Lloyd took to the decks to finish the evening with a disco!

Nathan Ward, Nicole’s husband said: “We are overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity.

“Ticket sales, donations, the auction and raffle currently take the figure to well over £17K. I’m sure Nicole would have been so proud of our efforts.

“Nicole was a fervent fundraiser, raising substantial funds for St Teilo’s school and more recently for cancer support services.

“It was fitting to bring people together to celebrate Nicole’s life, her work, her memory and carry on her good work by raising funds for such worthy causes.

“We plan to work with Paul Sartori and other local cancer services. I’d like to thank everyone involved in helping to make the Gala Ball such a huge success,” he added.