THE GRAND hotel was lit up in emerald lights to greet guests arriving at a charity gala dinner.

Three hundred guests arrived in The Empress Suite to celebrate Rockinghorse Children’s Charity emerald anniversary.

The evening, hosted by television presenter Marcella Whittingdale, a long-term supporter of the charity, raised £59,000.

All the money will go towards supporting a range of projects that help the mental health and wellbeing of hundreds of children across Sussex.

The charity is funding an innovative Youth Worker programme at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton, which has shown to be an effective tool in reducing a range of A&E admissions for self-harm, suicide attempts among vulnerable young people.

Paediatric consultant at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital Dr Mohammed Rahman spoke movingly to the guests about the dramatic rise in the numbers and severity of children and young people presenting to the Children’s Emergency Department with severe mental health issues.

Dr Rahman said: “The lockdown has also affected what we see in the Children’s Emergency Department and the types of patients requiring admission to hospital. Over the last year or so we have had a huge increase in the number of teenagers we see with mental health related issues. And while we do our best, we simply don’t have the time to explore some of their underlying issues.

“That is where the introduction of a youth worker is really important. It is something that has been tried and tested in other hospitals similar to ours and we desperately need this additional resource.”

Alongside this, the charity also raised money for three well-being projects that support children and young people struggling to manage long-term, chronic health conditions.

The projects, sea swimming, art therapy and woodland wellbeing days, all help young people to explore their feelings, develop coping strategies and share their experiences with other young people in the same boat.

Speaking about these projects at the ball, Donna Holland, chief executive of Rockinghorse Children’s Charity, said: “Children and young people have been disproportionally affected by the events of the last couple of years, missing out on so many of the things they normally do, and this has left a lasting impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

The Argus:

“But thanks to our wonderful guests and sponsors who have celebrated with us this evening, we will be able to make Sussex a safer place for children and young people to be.”

Throughout the evening guests were able to enjoy performances by students of The Brighton Institute, who sang two numbers from the musical Wicked, a three-course meal, live music from Allison David followed by a disco courtesy of Capital DJ Dave Goodings.

There was also support from one of the charity’s long-term supporters, local boxing legend Chris Eubank Jnr, who donated a pair of signed boxing gloves to the auction.

In a video message to the guests, he said: “I’ve worked with Rockinghorse many times in the past and I just wanted to show some support by signing a pair of one of my favourite boxing gloves and donating them to the charity, so they can auction them and hopefully raise a lot of money for one of the most important causes.”