The glitz and glamour of the jazz age was revived for a charity ball in aid of a Hampshire charity which supports families with children suffering from cancer.

More than 220 guests gathered for the Great Gatsby Ball in support of the Joe Glover Trust on Saturday night.

Early estimated are that the event, held at the Novotel, raised more than £12,000.

The trust’s events and fundraising manager Jane Wilmshurst said: “This is a phenomenal amount and we would like to say a huge thank you to all our guests for their generous support.”

Many parents are forced to give up work or take unpaid leave to spend time with their children, and cash raised at the ball will be paid out in grants help cover mortgage payments, household bills, travel costs to hospital or, sadly, help towards funeral costs.

“We have no cures to offer and all too often some of our endings are very sad, but during desperate times when there seems to be no hope, The Joe Glover Trust steps in and provides some immediate financial relief,” said Jane.

“We can't take away the pain the families face but we can, in often small ways, make things just a little more bearable.”

In addition to ticket sales funds were raised by a charity auction, conducted by Richard Payne of Clive Emson Auctioneers, in which the lots included flights to New York donated by Virgin Atlantic.

Guest were entertained by jazz band DCSaxes and The Strand during the evening and watched a short film produced by Southampton-based City Eye showing the work of the trust.

The Trust works closely with the Piam Brown ward at Southampton General Hospital and in the past has kitted out the ward with the latest plasma TVs, laptops and X boxes and refurbished the parents room.

More recently the trust established an iPad loan scheme for young patients and a days out programme which gives children and parents treats away from hospital – last year groups went to The Lion King, Shrek the musical and enjoyed a day out on the watercress Line.

The Trust was set up in memory of Joe Glover, who was a Hampshire boy, died at the age of eight from Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It supports children with cancer and their families together with specialist children’s cancer units and hospitals across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, Dorset, Wiltshire, and the Channel Islands.