A CHARITY garden party has raised over £800 for a Tillingham girl.

Ellalouise Middleton, 17, suffers from Dystonia, a neurological illness that affects the brain, attacking nerves and muscles in the body.

It causes painful and uncontrollable muscle spasms due to incorrect signals from the brain.

The illness is estimated to affect at least 70,000 people in the UK.

Ellalouise organised a garden party and cake sale in Bradwell-on-Sea on Sunday, to raise money to help fight the illness.

The event was hosted by Mill End Open Gardens.

The money raised from the event is being donated to the Dystonia Society and will be used to try to find a cure for the disease.

The garden party proved a huge success, bringing in a large turnout and raising – for the charity.

Ellalouise said: “It went absolutely brilliantly. I have got a sore throat today from it all.

“We tried counting how many people were there but there were so many we couldn’t.

“It went great and the turnout was better than I could have imagined.

“The weather was absolutely brilliant, it was a gorgeous day."

When asked if she was pleased with the total raised, Ellalouise said: "Oh God yeah.

"Every penny counts and I am really glad that awareness has been raised, but I am over the moon to raise this much.

"I want to thank everyone for donating, everyone for attending, everyone who baked a cake and everyone at Mill End Gardens for hosting the event."