IT WAS Raining Umbrellas at a unique art auction at Fork Handles Kitchen in Petersfield, and £3,000 came pouring in for charity.

The restaurant in St Peter's Road has been decorated with a sea of colourful hanging umbrellas, and these have now been auctioned off.

Celebrity auctioneer Jonathan Pratt from TV’s Bargain Hunt did the honours, at the special evening of food, cocktails and live music.

The money will be split between three charities close to the heart of Petersfield people – Artscape, Naomi House and FitzRoy.

The event was organised by restaurant owners Richard and Yasmine, who asked schools, charities, artists and the odd celebrity – Mark Owen of boyband Take That, and country duo Ward Thomas – to decorate umbrellas.

Town mayor, Cllr James Deane, was there to see the umbrellas sold off. “There is no doubt that the evening was a huge success thanks to the organisation of Fork Handles, the bidders, who were clearly ‘up for it’, and also the professionalism of Jonathan Pratt.”

Organisers of Artscape, the Petersfield charity that brings the arts to vulnerable and disabled adults, said they were thrilled to be asked to contribute to the project, and to benefit from it. The money would be used to buy much needed art materials.

Naomi House activities co-ordinator Huw Bromage said: “The children at Naomi House had a fabulous time getting creative by painting umbrellas. Arts and crafts are a really important element of our work and help children to express themselves and take control of their environments.”

The money raised would fund a month of nursing care at one of the charity’s hospices.

And a spokesman for FitzRoy said: “FitzRoy was thrilled to be one of the lucky charities that received funds from the Raining Umbrellas event. As a charity supporting people with learning disabilities to live the life they choose, we will use the money to help fund our Love4Life service which provides a much needed network of support, friendship, and relationships for people with learning disabilities at risk of isolation and abuse.”