Over in Uganda, we don’t get much of a chance to dress up in posh frocks, which is why we were more than excited to have a chance to scrub up for the Child’s i Foundation Inaugural Ball last week. And what an incredible time we had, as 202 guests gathered in the gorgeous Kensington Roof Gardens (complete with real flamingos!) to help us celebrate our achievements so far and raise some more much-needed funds. The evening was organised by our formidable ball committee comprising of Liz Thomas, Karin Taylor, Gilly Enock and Anne Catliff who have spent months planning the most spectacular event on the planet.
Drinks on the Roof Terrace
The whole evening exceeded everyone’s wildest dreams, thanks to the incredible efforts of the Child’s i team, who once again gave up their time and talents to make sure everything went with a bang*. The evening kicked off with drinks in the magical roof top garden (accompanied by suitably spellbinding arias from glam operatic duo Scarlet Divas), a lucky dip and even more musical entertainment from the wonderful Bryony Weaver, Toby Allington and Jules Fuller before the guests enjoyed a three-course meal. As they ate, our awesome team of table hosts were rushed off their feet placing bids in the soon-became-VERY-competitive silent auction – a bidding war broke out for a sought-after Rolf Harris print (“can you tell what it is yet?”), which eventually fetched £1100!!!!
Things got a little messy after dinner, as the incomparable Drum Café rocked the room – it’s probably the first and only time we will ever see so many (beautifully-dressed) grown-ups banging on drums with more enthusiasm than the toddlers at Malaika!
Drumming
The evening was interspersed with some powerful and moving videos of the babies in our care, filmed by Ian Warren. One of these featured Malaika’s own amazing nurse, Frida, who explaining the work she does with our babies. After the video, many of the guests each stood up and pledged to pay £100 towards her salary, the pledges will go a long way to paying our staff wages in Uganda – an awe-inspiring achievement, and one for which we are incredibly grateful.
The pledges pay towards our staff wages
The brilliant Alex Proud of Proud Galleries was our auctioneer for the evening and our fantastic array of lots to bid on (all donated by our supporters) went down a storm. We simply have to mention Richard Osman – now the proud owner of a signed Jimmy White snooker cue and jaws dropped when the week’s yacht charter (kindly donated by supporter James Barnett), made a whopping £17,500 on the night! Once the auction finished (raising an astonishing £40,000) top London DJ’s Dixon Brothers got everyone up and dancing to some classic tunes (ball gowns, heels and all!)
Bidding war for Nicola King painting
In one magical, memorable, magnificent night of laughter (and a few tears) we raised a genuinely stunning £60,000 – which is enough money to run our Malaika Babies Home for at least 6 months!
It's all for the kids
Check out pictures of the event, taken by Eoghan Hanrahan of Magpie Photographic, here
*The massive thank yous!
Table hosts: Perle Laouenan-Catchpole, Lisa Howells Claire Ratinon, Sara Stephens, Lara Gordon, Kat Brashaw, Kevin O’Brien, Emma Blake, Alissa Barlow, Jo Sinclair, Clarie O’Dowd, Ian Warren, Sally McClean, Will Byles, Izi Thomas, Ruth Newman, Emily Taylor, Amanda Sefton, Rosie Kong, Sophie Kingham and Rachel Mahon
