A fundraising lunch attended by a BBC broadcaster has raised £18,000 to support sick children.

BBC Radio 2 art critic Estelle Lovatt spoke at the lunch, in aid of charity Spread a Smile, held at a private home in Ingram Avenue, Hampstead Garden Suburb on June 12.

Spread a Smile provides entertainers to perform at Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College Hospital for seriously ill children spending prolonged periods as in-patients.

Ms Lovatt’s talk, entitled The Secrets of the Art World, was followed by an account from mother Fiona Barnett of what it is like to care for a child with leukaemia.

Vanessa Crocker, charity founder, said: “We are very pleased that the lunch was so successful in raising money to help us entertain and support at the hospitals.

“We hope these dealings will help us to fund our future work with the Royal London Hospital and Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.”