Students who organised a comedy night as part of their course were all smiles when they realised that their gig had exceeded all expectations and raised more than £1,700 for the Garden House Hospice.

Elliot Chapman and Paul Smart, pictured with performers and hospice representatives at the Da Vinci Hall in Letchworth, recruited comedy veterans Glyn Doggett, David Ephgrave, Katie Pritchard, Alexia Stifado and Stephen Halliday to crack up the audience.

The duo are both second year production arts students at the Da Vinci Studio School Of Creative Enterprise.

Elliot said: “The night went really well and we raised a lot more than we expected.

“We’d like to thank all the staff and students for the help crewing the event, the fantastic comedians, and sponsor Bubbles Lighting for lighting, sound and video equipment.

“We had a brilliant raffle on the night – thanks to all the local companies who donated prizes.”