A GRAND ball will be held to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo by a group in Hawkesbury and the Royal British Legion.


This anniversary will be marked by national and European celebrations and in addition to this, charity group Friends of St Mary’s Hawkesbury, with the Royal British Legion, will also be celebrating the occasion with a ball in June to raise money for two charities.


The event, which will be held at Westonbirt School, Tetbury, will take place on Friday, June 19, one day after the actual anniversary of the battle.


The celebrations aim to raise money for the Friends of St Mary's, a charitable organisation set to care for the fabric of the building of the church, and the Royal British Legion, which helps the armed forces community by serving members of the armed forces, veterans and their families.


Peter Setterfield, member of the Friends group, said: “The battle, a watershed moment in the history of Europe has special local connections.


“The Hawkesbury monument is actually the Somerset monument built in memory of Lord Edward Somerset, son of the Duke of Beaufort, who lead the Household Brigade of Cavalry at Waterloo, Fitzroy Somerset another son of the Duke was ADC to Wellington and was wounded in the Battle, the Gloucester Regiment fought and the Prime Minister of the time was Lord Liverpool aka Viscount Hawkesbury and is buried in St Mary’s.


“We have confirmation that we will have the Mavron String Quartet, a professional quartet from Cardiff, the Waterloo Band and Bugles of the Rifles, who will beat retreat for us- a real coup as on the Sunday they will be at Tower of London ,and Vegas, a very good covers dance band from the local area.”


Air Marshal Sir Ian Macfadyen, chairman of the group, said: “Both charities are close to my heart. The beautiful 1000 year-old church of St Mary's, which nestles in a wooded valley on the edge of the Cotswolds, is in serious need of repairs to the tower and rainwater gargoyles and potentially the chancel roof.


“The Royal British Legion has a never ending duty to our service men and women both past and present and fund raising is a constant requirement.”


The fund-raising ball will take place at 7pm at Westonbirt School on Friday, June 19 including a champagne reception, five course dinner and entertainment, with tickets at £63 or £600 for a table of ten.


To book or for more information call Mr Setterfield on 01454 238307 or visit www.fosmhawkesbury.co.uk.