A NORTH EAST event has once again gone beyond the pale – by raising over an amazing £31,000 in one afternoon to support heart-related causes.

The highly anticipated Red Sky Ball White Party took place on Sunday 15th September at Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa near Durham, where 400 people enjoyed an Ibiza-style celebration.

It’s the third time The White Party has been organised by Sunderland couple Sergio and Emma Petrucci, who are also responsible for the successful annual Red Sky Ball gala dinner, bringing the couple’s fund-raising total to an incredible £336,000 in the last three years.

The money has bought life saving equipment for the Children’s Heart Unit at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, Sunderland Royal Hospital and Teesside’s James Cook Hospital. And the latest boost to the coffers will also pay for defibrillators to be installed in town and city centres across the region.

The couple decided to find a way to thank the medical staff who saved their daughter Luna’s life when it was discovered she had two congenital heart defects when she was born. Just days before her second birthday, the youngster underwent cardiac surgery and is now a healthy fun loving six-year-old little girl.

Sergio decided to organise a fund-raising event, calling it the Red Sky Ball, because of the colour of the sky the morning of Luna’s operation.

And since the resounding success of the first gala dinner, the family organise spectacular sell-out events annually, raising huge amounts of money which have been spent on cardio equipment that has saved so many other lives.

“We’re completely overwhelmed by the support we’ve received and the generosity of the people who come along to the events,” said Sergio.

“We’ve got amazing local and globally recognised sponsors who make a massive difference and thousands of people have now attended the Red Sky Ball dinner and the White Party brunch every year. We’re thrilled that once again we’ve managed to raise an incredible amount of money raised here in the North East and it’s staying in the North East funding the heart unit at the Freeman which helps save so many lives.”

Among the attendees at the event Steps and Strictly star, Faye Tozer, who is patron and ambassador for Red Sky Ball, former England cricketer Ryan Sidebottom and celebrity DJs Chris Bungoni and Brandon Block, who performed.

One lucky couple won a 3 night VIP holiday to Ushuaia Ibiza Beach Hotel, one of Red Sky Ball’s headline sponsors this year – a luxury resort home to world famous DJ’s Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia.

The White Party was supported by a number of other businesses including Elopa Estate Agents, Everyone Active, Smart Utility Management, Ramside Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa, Specsavers, Santander, Esh Group, Mercedes Benz Sunderland, AR Controls, Ashford Orthodontics and Palladium Hotel Group.

For further information on the next Red Sky Ball fundraising gala dinner March 2020 email Sergio at info@redskyball.com or visit www.redskyball.com

A huge thank you to Sergio, Emma and everyone else involved, we are incredibly grateful for your ongoing support!

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