There was a very good ending to a very good day on Saturday when a charity ball to launch the Didier Drogba Foundation raised over £500,000.

The glittering event at the world-renowned Dorchester Hotel in London's West End was attended by Drogba's team-mates, making the short trip from Stamford Bridge where they convincingly beat Wolves a couple of hours earlier.

Stars from the music world also attended including Akon, who flew from the United States despite recently undergoing surgery, the Brand New Heavies and JLS who provided entertainment.

England rugby international Danny Cipriani also lent support, as did former Blue Claude Makelele who travelled over from France that evening.

'Didier is a good guy and he does very well to think about his country,' Makelele told the official Chelsea website.

The Drogba Foundation is aiming to raise enough money to build a hospital in Abidjan, the city of Drogba's birth.

'African countries need help all the time and players have the chance to give opportunities to African people,' continued Makelele who himself has a charity project in his country of birth, Zaire.

'Didier is a very passionate player and this is his passion off the pitch,' added Joe Cole. 'He wants to help people in Ivory Coast and we are all here to support him.

'The boys wanted to come down and be involved in a big event,' said Ashley Cole. 'Hopefully they can raise enough money to build more than one hospital.'

'What players can give with their time is publicity and awareness for causes and tonight is a great night,' said John Terry.

There was also support from the Chelsea Football Club board who were represented.

Bruce Buck explained: 'Roman Abramovich and the club are really proud and happy when our players on their own initiative start a charity or get involved in a charitable project. The club will do what we can to support the players' projects through logistical support, publicity, auction items and many other ways.'

And what of the man himself?

'I'm really happy because this is the first time I organised something like this,' Drogba said at the end of the night. He had admirably given a speech, a task he admitted made him more nervous than playing a game.

'For me it was a big success because the tables were full and everybody that attended was very nice and they showed me a lot of support.

'The people who came tonight understood the message that I am trying to get across. It was great to see them get involved in the auction.

'I have seen people struggle to get the treatment they need in hospitals in Ivory Coast. I had a friend who died from leukaemia because he didn't have the chance to come to Europe and get the treatment he needed.

'Now, through my foundation, we are working with big European companies who will provide the medicines to make it easier for people to get treatment and better rooms to fight against this kind of disease.

'I left Ivory Coast for France when I six years. I went back many times and decided to take up the nationality and since then things are amazing. The people there were really nice to me, supporting me, creating a fan club and this is just a way to say thank you and to leave something there.'

Click on The Drogba Foundation to read more.