NEARLY £1,000 has been raised for the Astwood Bank Carnival, which in turn gets distributed among local groups.

The residents of Astwood Bank recently helped bring a little bit of Bollywood to the area by supporting an event organised by carnival team and restaurant Little India.

Two special themed sittings took place and many guests took the opportunity to go to town and dress up in their Bollywood outfits.

As well as having fun the aim of the event was to raise funds for carnival.

Building on a similar event two years ago, Little India made a generous donation from the evening of £700, and in addition more than £200 was raised through a raffle.

As well as a DJ, guests were entertained by local magician Sam Wilson.

Deborah Bates, from Astwood Bank Carnival team, said: “We love working with local businesses to help us in our objective of ensuring that Astwood Bank is a great community.

"Organising events like this really shows what a brilliant place it is to live and with Little India’s support we’ve managed to raise significant funds that we can redistribute around the community.

"It has got everyone in the party mood, and just before carnival day on July 14.”

Shamol Ahmed, manager and owner of Little India, added: “We love supporting our local community, and the staff really look forward to this fun event.

"I’m really pleased that we had so much support both in the build-up and on the night."