TWO Egglescliffe school friends organised a midsummer ball at a hotel, which raised £700 for a new bowel cancer charity.

Guests from the media attended the event at the Parkmore hotel, Eaglescliffe, and helped raised money for Against Bowel Cancer.

Laura Trees, of Stockton, and Kathryn Wilson, of Yarm, both aged 15, staged the event with help from Kathryn's mother, Mrs Sylvia Wilson.

"It went very well. Everyone had a great time," Mrs Wilson said this week. "Laura is currently doing her Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and had to perform some form of community service. She and Kathryn came up with the idea of holding a fundraising event.

"They approached the Parkmore hotel and received great help - we really thank Diane George and Ben Hunt for their assistance."

Laura is keen on sport and outdoor activities. She particularly enjoys rock climbing and practises her skills on a climbing wall at Aycliffe.

Tonight, she will be presented with a community award from the Yarm Lions. She has been involved in other good work.

Kathryn enjoys music and plays the violin with Egglescliffe school orchestra, which is to perform at the forthcoming Music for Youth competition at Royal Festival Hall in London. She has also performed with the orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall.

Mrs Wilson, who is a charity trustee, said Teesside had the worst rate of bowel cancer in the country. While it was difficult to pinpoint the reasons for this, she said diet was a crucial factor.

"The general public do not want to talk about it. Other medical charities have great support, but people are very uneasy about bowel cancer. This ignorance is particularly sad because bowel cancer is curable.

"We have used money that we have raised to refit furniture and buy decorations at the James Cook university hospital (formerly South Cleveland)."

The charity had one paid employee and four regular volunteers. Mrs Wilson's other daughter, Laura, also helped.

At the Parkmore hotel summer ball, Tyne-Tees Television presenter Miss Pam Royle was one of the guests. She agreed to be a patron; another patron is Sir Cliff Richard.

Mr Malcolm Warne, editor of the D&S Times, was also invited and presented the girls with a £250 cheque for the charity. This was part of the prize money awarded to the newspaper when it was recently named North-East Weekly Newspaper of the Year.