FAMILY and friends of a young mum who died last year have raised about £5,000 in her memory.

Justine Silvester, who died last April two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, should have celebrated her 40th birthday on Saturday.

And in her honour, family and friends hosted a fundraising car wash and party on the day.

Proceeds will be donated to bereavement charity Seesaw, which supports her daughters Maisie, 10 and Ruby, six, and Oxford’s Sobell House hospice, who cared for her in her last days.

In a two-hour slot on Saturday morning, people washed about 60 cars at Bicester Rugby Club, then after a short break donned their glad rags for a party at the Oxford Road club.

About 200 people turned up and one of the organisers, Amanda Cassidy said: “We had a montage of music that had been chosen by Justine’s friends and her daughters. We auctioned a helicopter ride, a spa day and a Hayley Porter photoshoot, and one of the rugby players auctioned himself.

“It was a very emotional night, but a complete success. “The girls had a brilliant time, and have been so brave.

“Justine would have been really proud.”

As the Bicester events took place Miss Silvester’s friends in Essex, where she lived for several years, did a pub crawl around her former locals and raised about £800.

Originally some of the cash from the night was going to be used to pay for a treat for Miss Silvester’s daughters as a gift from their mother.

But the Nigel Cassidy Trust Fund, set up in memory of the former Oxford United player who died in 2008, gave the girls £300 to be spent on a special treat, allowing all the proceeds to go to charity.