MUSIC in a magnificent setting and a fabulous set of auction and raffle prizes – including one from this year’s BBC MasterChef winner – were a recipe for a fundraising success for a cancer centre charity.

The grounds of Hazelby House in East Woodhay, on the Hampshire/Berkshire border, was the venue for Music in The Garden – and the generous support of around 500 guests, auction and raffle prize donors, and sponsor Centerprise International resulted in £69,000 being raised for Ark Cancer Centre Charity.

Patrick and Gabrielle Hungerford, who own Hazelby House, generously allowed the charity – which is raising £5m toward a unique cancer treatment centre that will help and support people living in and around Alton – to host the fundraising event in their spectacular 12-acre garden.

Guests were able to explore the landscaped grounds and listen to music being performed by East Woodhay Silver Band, the wonderful voices of the Basingstoke Hospital Male Voice Choir, and super Basingstoke soul singer Natasha Watts.

The auction featured nine fabulous lots, including a private dinner party for 10 people to be prepared and cooked in the successful bidder’s home by this year’s BBC MasterChef winner Jane Devonshire.

The 50-year-old Medstead mum-of-four was treated for liver cancer by consultant surgeon Merv Rees, who is one of the trustees of Ark Cancer Centre Charity, and she was delighted to support the fundraising event by providing the unique prize.

Ark Cancer Centre Charity trustee Merv Rees updated the guests on the progress of the charity’s £5m fundraising campaign, and the cancer treatment centre project which is earmarked for a preferred location on land close to Junction 7 of the M3 near Basingstoke.

The success of the charity’s £5m appeal will ensure a range of support services and complementary therapies are available alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments in a calm and uplifting environment.

If the preferred location for the new centre, which is largely being funded by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is given the green light, it will be easily accessible to everyone in the trust region.