SHE is going down a storm in America but for actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw, her family home in Witney is where the heart is.

Gugu, 28, made her Hollywood debut this summer in the movie Larry Crowne alongside superstars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, and is about to start shooting a major new TV drama Touch with Kiefer Sutherland and Danny Glover.

It is all a long way from her childhood in Witney, where her mum, retired nurse Anne Raw, still lives – and where Gugu returns to as often as she can. It was on her last visit, at the beginning of October, that a charity fund-raising day inspired her to make a special donation.

She was in the town centre on Witney in the Pink Day, the annual fundraiser organised by the Witney fundraising team of the charity Against Breast Cancer, based in Abingdon.

The Witney team is led by Jeanne Chattoe, who started raising funds for Against Breast Cancer after the death of her sister Delia, aged 41, from the disease. Over the years, she and her team have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Gugu said: “I have always been inspired by Jeanne’s commitment to Against Breast Cancer, having known her since taking dance classes with her daughter Lucy, and I always had much fun ‘on the catwalk’ at the fashion shows in Witney that Jeanne organised for the charity when I was at Henry Box School.

“I ventured into Witney when we had the heatwave weekend in early October. I found the town centre covered in pink balloons and the air filled with music from all the bands and singers.

“When I realised it was in aid of Against Breast Cancer I wasn’t at all surprised as it was such a vibrant event, which has always been Jeanne’s style. Only moments later I saw her shaking her tin and rushed to donate, get my sticker and, of course, have a natter!”

She said it occurred to her that the charity might be able to make use of a haute couture silver sequinned gown she had been given after the filming of a promo for spy drama series Undercovers last year, in which she played the lead.

Gugu said: “I decided to donate the dress that I wore for the James Bond-style Undercovers promo that was screened at the Emmy Awards last year.

“I wanted it to have another life as it is so dazzling and I hope Against Breast Cancer can benefit and will continue to be so innovative and spirited in their approach to fundraising.”

Most dresses that Gugu wears for red carpet events are borrowed but because the Undercovers shoot had a fight stunt, the wardrobe department had two dresses in case one of them got ripped during the action.

“Luckily, no wardrobe malfunction occurred, and it is in perfect condition,” said Gugu, “At the end of the shoot, the costume designer gave me one of the dresses!”

The size 8-10 glitzy sequinned gown is now on sale at Jeanne’s boutique Renaissance, in Wesley Walk, Witney, priced at £500, with every penny from the sale going to Against Breast Cancer.

Claire Triggs, 23, from Witney, a supporter of Against Breast Cancer, tried on the dress.

She said: “It is a fabulous dress. I loved trying it on and having my photos taken outside the shop. People were stopping and telling me how wonderful I looked in it.”

Gugu’s acting career started as a teenager, and she went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada), before gaining a string of TV work in the UK that included series such as Bad Girls (1999), Spooks and Doctor Who (2007), and Bonekickers (2008).

In 2009 she made her first trip to the USA where she appeared on Broadway as Ophelia opposite Jude Law’s Hamlet.

She said: “I describe myself as nomadic – I go where the work takes me. I have been in LA for the majority of 2011, and have been back and forth to the UK since Hamlet.”