A VERY famous speaker brought "order" to a Heathlands gala dinner on Saturday.

Baroness Betty Boothroyd, former speaker of the House of Commons, returned to what she does best as guest speaker at the event.

The dinner at Manchester's Piccadilly Hotel launched the Heathlands Foundation Fund to 500 guests. The fund hopes to raise around £1 million to help Heathlands Village, the largest Jewish care home for the elderly in the north of England. Heathlands has publicly acknowledged it is struggling financially.

In 2001 the trustees of the residential home issued a statement to say the facility could close within two years if it did not receive help from the community.

They blamed financial problems, including a £700,000 deficit, on Government cutbacks and lack of funding from the local authority.

Last month Heathlands was one of 11 care homes in Bury to be raided by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) amid allegations of price fixing. That investigation is still ongoing and could take several months.

Vice-president of Heathlands and chairman of the dinner committee, Rodney Berkeley, said: "The Heathlands Foundation Fund has been specifically launched to help cover the under-funding from the local authority that has drained the reserves over many years. The evening was both a social and financial success, but there is still a long way to go."