Three friends are to hold their annual Christmas gift fair on November 11.

Valerie Spencer, 65, and her friends, Annette Shain and Ruth Sage, will hold the event at Avenue House in East End Road, Finchley, to raise money for the North London Hospice.

There will be more than 30 stalls selling a range of arts, crafts and gifts between 11.30am and 5pm.

The trio have been running the fair for ten years and have raised £50,000 for the hospice.

They came up with the idea after meeting over a coffee in their local tennis club, David Lloyd in Finchley, and continue to run it together to this day.

The first fair was held in Ms Spencer’s Whetstone home and had just 12 stalls.

As it has grown it has had to be relocated to Avenue House.

Ms Spencer, now of Hendon Wood Lane, said: "It's amazing to think that we started in my house which was then in Whetstone.

“We wanted to help North London Hospice as it is our local charity and we knew the money would go directly to funding the care they provide.

"The fair has gone from strength to strength and become bigger than we even imagined.

“Avenue House is transformed into a magical festive wonderland with stalls of all kinds selling all sorts of items including jewellery, handbags, soaps, cakes, perfumes and designer clothes.

"We rely on the community to support us in the donating of gifts and also to attend on the day.

“We are still looking for tombola prizes and volunteers to help on the day. It is a fantastic day.

“People will definitely pick up a bargain and it's all for a good cause."