A GLITZY charity event raised more than £20,000 in memory of an “extraordinary” man.

The Blue Sky Ball commemorated the life of Nigel Collinson, of Battenhall, Worcester, who died in January 2014 from oesophageal cancer, leaving behind his wife Tracey and two boys Henry and Charlie.

Three good causes – St Richard’s Hospice, Hugo’s Everyday Living and Play Fund (HELP) and Cancer Research UK – have received a share of the whopping £20,335 collected at the fundraising evening in Worcester's Guildhall.

Each charity has a personal connection to the family while the Blue Sky Ball was named after Mr Collinson’s favourite song.

Rachel Lyman, who helped organise the fundraiser, said: “It was brilliant and a great success.

"We raised almost double what we expected to, which we are delighted about."

The three beneficiary charities are causes close to the Collinson family's hearts.

St Richard’s Hospice enabled Mr Collinson to be cared for at home surrounded by his loved-ones while Cancer Research UK’s work to cure the disease and raise awareness means a lot to the family.

There is however an even closer personal connection to Hugo’s Everyday Living and Play Fund, an organisation which Mr Collinson set up to support six-year-old Hugo, who has hypomyelination and skeletal dysplasia - a health condition which leads to problems with movement, speech, vision, hearing and mental and physical development.