Ronnie will start the cash rolling in for Chris, right on cue

Snooker stars past and present including Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White, John Higgins, Graham Dott, John Parrot and Mathew Stevens are set to attend the event, at the Hilton Grosvenor Hotel at Haymarket next month.

And among the auction prizes is the guitar played by Ronnie Wood, below, during the Rolling Stones' Forty Licks reunion tour, donated by the star himself.

The event is to raise money for the Leith-born former world number 12, who was forced to quit the game in 2004 after the rare spinal condition he suffers from deteriorated badly and led to fears that he would be confined to a wheelchair later in life.

Small, 32, was left with no earnings and no pay-off from World Snooker, with three young children to support, after being forced to close the book on his career.

Other sporting stars hoping to attend include former Rangers, Hibs and Scotland goalkeeper Andy Goram, Hibs midfielder Stephen Whittaker, Dunfermline manager Jim Leishman and Livingston boss and Hearts legend John Robertson.

Former Hearts midfielder Gary Mackay is also attending and has been in contact with organisers about booking a table for members of the current Tynecastle squad.

Conservative estimates from the organisers are that at least 20,000 will be raised for Small and his family on the night.

Securing the guitar for the event was the work of former world number one snooker ace Jimmy White, who rang around some of his celebrity friends to try to get auction donations.

Wood was going to attend the event as well but had to pull out.

Kenny Dalglish has also been trying to use his contacts to get further donations for the auction, and is confident of getting hold of T-shirts signed by Steven Gerrard and Alan Shearer, while Andy Goram is contacting former Ibrox team-mates such as Paul Gascoigne, Ally McCoist and Brian Laudrup to try to get more donations.

Boxer Ricky Hatton has donated signed gloves that will be auctioned off, while members of the Hearts team are signing a jersey that will be added to the collection that is open to bids.

Small, who now lives in Craigentinny, is delighted with the news that Ronnie Wood's guitar is to be auctioned off.

He said: "I certainly didn't expect a guitar owned by Ronnie Wood to be donated.

"It's just unbelievable. Jimmy's good friends with him so he went to him and he wanted to help so it's just brilliant.

"The whole night seems to be coming together really well and Mike Leslie, the organiser, has done so much. It's been like a full-time job for him these last six months or so.

"It'll be great to see all the friends, family and people I used to play against there on the night. If it hadn't been for this I would have had nothing."

Small has recently started a new course of medication to treat his ankylosing spondylitis condition, which he was diagnosed with six years ago. His wife Clare, 36, injects him twice weekly with a liquid from a syringe that he says he has "no idea what it is, but it works".

Since starting the treatment two months ago, he has found a vast reduction in the amount of pain he suffers, although the swelling and stiffness are still there.

He is making a very significant donation to the auction himself, by gifting the snooker cue he used throughout his career. He said: "I'd like to keep it, but every time I pull it out the drawer and look at it, it just puts me on a massive downer for a few days.

"I'll never have a use for it again so it might as well be owned by someone who can use it. It doesn't really matter who gets it. It would be nice if it was a snooker player but even if it's someone who'll just hang it up that's fine as long as they appreciate it."

The event is being organised by Mike Leslie, who runs the Bonnyrigg Snooker Club and the Scottish Youth Snooker Association.

A very limited number of tables are available to the public for the event on July 5, which can be booked by calling Mike Leslie on 07958 759444.