Business telephone system specialist South West Communications Group has helped more than 400 staff at Southmead and Frenchay hospitals in Bristol raise thousands of pounds for their charity at this year’s Sparkle and Shine Christmas balls.

The charity event was held in aid of the Southmead hospital maternity unit appeal and nearly £6,000 was raised through donations, an auction and a charity raffle.

The hospital charity Shine together staged two Christmas balls at the Marriott Royal hotel to ensure that all staff who wanted to attend could do so. The evenings were jointly sponsored by South West Communications Group and Carillion PLC.

Ruth Brunt North Bristol NHS Trust chief executive said: “I had the pleasure of attending the first of Shine together’s Sparkle and Shine Christmas Balls and it was a roaring success.

Aside from money raised through ticket sales, an additional £2,000 was made on the evenings thanks to an auction and raffle, the prizes for which were kindly donated by some of our Shine together’s supporters.

“We are also grateful to Carillion PLC and South West Communications Group who made generous donations to the appeal.”

Sarah Flowers, sales director from South West Communications Group, which has installed a new multi-faceted telephone system for the Trust, said: "Having worked closely with staff from both hospitals during the last 18 months, it was our pleasure to support such a worthy cause. We enjoyed the first ball immensely and were delighted to see how much money was raised from the two events."

The donations will be given to the ‘Mums the Word’ appeal at Southmead hospital which aims to raise £1.5 million for the maternity unit.