A Dame’s visit to a nightclub on a Friday night has resulted in a windfall raised for charity.

Dame Esther Rantzen hosted the charity gala at PRYZM on Friday night which raised £25,000 for DEMAND (Design and Manufacture for Disability).

The TV personality is a patron of the charity and acted as master of ceremonies as guests were treated to a culinary delights from chefs-to-the-stars Charlie Hayes and Neil Pope of Air Culinaire Worldwide.

BBC Radio 5 Live commentator John Hunt led the charity auction which raised more than £3,500 and Warner Brothers sales and marketing director Dan Dark presented a cheque for £5000 to the charity.

Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, BNI Watford Junction and Imagine Group all sponsored the event which makes life-changing specialist disability equipment, helps disabled children access play and physical therapy and supports disabled adults’ access sports and activities in their communities.

Guests were introduced to people who have been helped by the charity including three-year-old Darcey, who was born with cerebal palsy but has been able to walk independently thanks to specialist treadmill handles made by DEMAND.

Money raised at the event will go towards helping 40 of the people on the charity’s waiting list who need specialist equipment not available elsewhere.

This includes 10 children who would have access to a “big little car”, a device which would allow them to play and engage them with physical activity as they do not have the balance or coordination to ride a bike or scooter.

Fundraising Manager Denise Gillies said: “DEMAND is a unique charity that helps people of any age and with any disability, both here in Watford and further afield.

“Our custom design and manufacturing service is invaluable to the people we help, and the generosity of our supporters at the Grand Gala means we’ll be able to help even more people get the most out of life.

“We are again overwhelmed by the offers of help and support from businesses and individuals in Watford who helped make the Grand Gala a success.

“We would welcome anyone who’d like to find out about DEMAND’s work to pay a visit to our engineering workshop in Abbots Langley to see first-hand the life-changing work of our charity.”

For more information visit http://www.demand.org.uk/.