A PRIVATE view of the prestigious Hunting Art Prizes exhibition raised a fantastic £18,000 for The British Forces Foundation.

Falklands veteran Simon Weston made an appeal on behalf of the charity at the event which was held in the Royal College of Art, London.

The British Forces Foundation Director Mark Cann said: "It was a great privilege to be part of such a prestigious event with a lot of excellent people.

"I am clearly delighted by the success of the evening and being able to raise so much money. Approximately £18,000 to a small charity like ours makes an enormous difference.

"I would like to express our sincerest thanks to Hunting and all its partners."

The Hunting Art Prizes is acknowledged to be one of the top three annual competitions in the UK. One of the main reasons is that the competition is 'open', welcoming entries which range from traditional figurative to modern abstract.

As a result it attracts a wide range of entries, including leading established artists, promising newcomers and talented amateurs.

The 2003 competition attracted more than 2,200 entries from a wide variety of artists. From these, the five judges selected 90 works for the exhibition at the RCA.

The standing of the Hunting Art Prizes continues to grow year year and this is reflected in the willingness of leading figures in the art world to judge the competition.