Good times at Saffron's Ball

Penny lost her baby daughter Saffron who was born premature and lived for just ten days, having already been through the trauma six years ago of seeing her little boy Thomas die when he was born too early to survive.

It didn't take long for 33 year old Penny to realise she wanted to do everything possible to stop other parents going through the same agony.

She decided to hold a fundraiser in Saffron's name for Bliss, the special care baby charity, but her modest hopes for a get-together with family and friends have snowballed into a major event at the De La Warr Pavilion complete with Cash In The Attic auction and entertainment, all covered by OK! Magazine which has given Penny its full backing.

Saffron's Ball will be held on Saturday March 27 and tickets are now on sale costing 45 per person, or 80 for two, to cover the buffet style menu and hours of glamorous fun '“ but hurry, because 300 reservations have already been made.

Donations have also been flooding in for guests to bid for during the evening , from a kayak safari for four people to a weekend at The Big Sleep '“ Hollywood actor John Malkovich's hotel in Eastbourne '“ driving tuition, signed football shirts, even a Manchester Utd signed match ball.

There's gym membership at Zeus in St Leonards, car valeting at Bexhill Auto Clean, champagne, wedding cake and house sale discount from the Property Cafe.

Presenter Graham Norton has donated two tickets to a recording of his chat show to include drinks in the green room with his celebrity guests, while Peter Andre has promised a personalised photograph which he will send to the winning bidder, and there's photographs from Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.

Penny told the Observer about the reaction to her story published early December: "I have been shocked by the response'¦in a good way, not bad. When you first think of doing something you wonder if it will all fall down and not work, but there has been so much interest and response from everybody. I don't think it can go wrong now '“ although I am well nervous. It has been quite overwhelming '“ I don't know how to describe it. Everyone wanted to help because of what happened to me and Saffron and Thomas'¦I'm blown away by it all."

Part of that support has come from friends such as Sophia Symonowicz who wrote a song for Saffron called Tiny Angels which she will sing and be available to buy at the ball, having been produced by David Ives who works for Kiss and Juice FM.

Pop Idol finalist Rebecca Hayes will also perform during the evening, as will seven piece band Motown Gold, and Rock Idol which will provide the soundtrack for guests to live out their own rockstar fantasies.

There's much for Penny, of Sackville Road, to organise in the oncoming weeks while she looks after four year old daughter Summer May and gets her own life back on track, but in the meantime she receives solid support from brother-in-law Ali Martin who is helping put together the charity night.

Ali, married to her sister Dawn, said: "Penny and me have always been close. I know how much it affected her when Saffron passed away because it affected Dawn as well, and nine years ago I lost one of my children too. I know how that affected me.

"So in a sense Penny and I have that link because we have been there too'¦different circumstances and different reasons, but we have been through it.

"It might sound corny, but we know that normally when you give birth you can pick that baby up and hold it. Then 48 hours later you might be at home wondering about all the sleepless nights and the baby won't stop screaming. But what Penny went through was the hardest thing, when the baby is in an incubator and you can't risk even picking it up to hold it. The sad truth is there is only one time you are allowed to pick up that child and that is when they turn the life-support machines off.

"As far as I am concerned no-one should go through that. I would not wish that on my worst enemy. Why put other people through that when we can do something about it?"

Having joined forces to raise money for Bliss, particularly thinking of the training of specialist nurses for premature baby units, Penny and Ali now hope everyone will help make the event a success.

Ali said: "What we need are any local celebrities or businesses which would like to donate '“ please contact Penny or myself. We want as much as we can possibly get to auction and we are going to have a raffle as well. At the end of the day we want to raise as much money as we possible can, and the only way we can do that is if local businesses and celebrities will help. We want this evening to be the biggest event in Bexhill and if it goes the way we want it there is no reason it should not be."

You can email Penny for details on [email protected] or phone Ali on 07990 643586. Tickets are available to buy at the De La Warr Pavilion box office. - call 01424 229111, or email [email protected]

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