A fabulous night of fundraising and celebration was had at our 10th Anniversary 'Hollywood Glamour' Ball in the Corn Hall at the Kings Head Hotel in Cirencester on Saturday. It looks as though we have raised over £7871 plus £1345 gift aid so far... Amazing! Thank you so much to the 216 guests who attended and to our generous sponsors too!
Firstly, I would like to thank our
fabulous patrons Laurence & Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen for their generous support
and continued patronage. We really do appreciate all that they do for our charity. I would also like to thank the wonderful team of
committee members who continue to volunteer their time tirelessly, Cheryl
Miller, David Miller, Justine Reynolds, Ann Smith, Veronique Kennedy, Lori
Hill, Hilary Norris-Evans and Jerry. We couldn’t do this without their kind
support.
The Ball was not only to
celebrate a milestone but to raise critical funds for breast cancer research. This
group was set up in June 2005 following my dear friend Eira Hooper’s diagnosis of this hideous disease. We decided to focus our energies by trying to make something positive out of
something so negative and were determined to ensure that the same fate does not to happen
to our own daughters and to future generations. I was really
pleased to see so many of her family and close friends celebrating with us on Saturday.
A toast was raised in Eira's memory and in honour of all
those affected by this disease, together we continue the fight that she
started.
Breast
cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. One in eight women will face it in
their lifetime. Nearly 700,000 people living in the UK have experienced a
diagnosis.
Survival
rates for breast cancer have increased dramatically. More than 80 percent of
women who develop breast cancer will now live beyond five years. 40 years ago,
it was only around half. But that doesn’t mean we’ve got breast cancer under
control.
Right
now, more women are being diagnosed with breast cancer than ever before. This
year, more than 50,000 women will be told they have the disease. That’s one
woman every 10 minutes. If we don’t act now, by 2030, more than 57,000 women
will be diagnosed with breast cancer every year.
Not only is it our 10th Anniversary already but we have also reached quite a milestone with our fundraising. We were honoured to have some major fundraisers at the Ball, two of whose names were recently been
added to our growing list of inspirational fundraisers on the Challengers Wall
at the Research Centre in London. Daughter of Cheryl & David Miller (kind
sponsors of the Champagne reception) Kara and her husband Anuj have between
them run the Bath ½ Marathon and London Marathon and raised an impressive
£3,468.49 for our charity. (Please see the post below for more details). We
also had a young man who has been fundraising for this charity since the age
of 18, he has cycled over 3,467 miles and raised a whopping £6,885.96 - and he
doesn’t even like cycling! He did all of this without any encouragement
whatsoever from his mum, my son Harry!
Thanks
to all of our supporters, together this group has so far raised a truly impressive £206,840.82!!
Research
that we have helped to fund has made incredible progress, but despite all we’ve
achieved women are still dying from breast cancer – and they’re dying on a
heart-breaking scale. Around 1,000 women in the UK die from breast cancer every
month. That’s one woman every 45 minutes whose life is cut short by the
disease.
Breast
cancer touches the lives of millions of us in the UK. For every woman or man
who develops breast cancer, there are families, friends and loved ones who also
feel the fear and uncertainty the disease brings.
That is why we are dedicated to funding research into this
devastating disease. We believe that if we all act now, by 2050, no one
will die from breast cancer. But we’ll only reach that point by working in
a new, collaborative way. We’re bringing together all those affected by the
disease to improve the way we prevent, detect, treat and stop the disease. So
we can move from a time when people fear breast cancer to a generation where
everybody lives.
We are Breast Cancer
Now, the UK’s largest breast cancer charity, created by the merger of Breast
Cancer Campaign and Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
For more than 25 years, these two charities were
committed to funding the very best in breast cancer research, investing over
£170 million in world-class projects and programmes. Although they each made
enormous progress, it became clear they could do more for everyone affected by
breast cancer if they did it together, as one new charity. Now, we’re on the
cusp of something life-changing.
Their cutting-edge research is focused
entirely on breast cancer. Right now, they’re funding around £23 million worth
of ground-breaking research projects, supporting nearly 450 of the world’s
brightest researchers at more than 30 institutions across the UK and Ireland
including nearby in Oxford. One of these projects in Oxford is particularly
ground breaking. It is looking into the development of new immunotherapy
treatments for breast cancer that could have minimal side-effects for patients
and improve the chances of survival for thousands of people.
Together, they’re working to discover how to prevent
breast cancer, how to detect it earlier and how to treat it effectively at
every stage so we can stop the disease taking lives.
Research holds the key to a world where everyone who develops
breast cancer lives. With your help, by 2050, they believe, and we believe, we
will live in that world – but only if we all act now to keep up the pace of
discovery.
We had a fun-packed evening which began by playing that old favourite, ‘Heads & Tails’. Participants each donated £2 for the chance to win a bottle of Champagne, courtesy of Chateaux Wines, who kindly sponsored the Champage reception and fine table wines. The Kings Head Hotel provided a delicious three course dinner, beautifully presented and well managed.
We had a fantastic selection of Raffle prizes kindly donated and listed below. The Auction was led by the highly entertaining and enthusiastic Roy Bowyer of Moore
Allen & Innocent. Guests were wowed by the amazing Alex Robertson, magician
extraordinaire, who gave individual performances to tables throughout the night.
We were also delighted to have the truly spectacular ‘Curious LITTLE Big Band’ back
by popular demand, who managed to fill the dance floor in record time! Thank you so much for your kind support and making it such a fabulous evening. Photos from the Champagne Reception can be viewed and ordered from Thousand Word Media
Thank you to our generous sponsors for an amazing array of Auction & Raffle prizes:
- 1 hour Helicopter pleasure flight for up to 3 people, from either Liverpool John Lennon airport or the Cotswold airport at a date to be arranged by the highest bidder. There will also be the ability to add additional hours (at cost price) should this be required to visit somewhere specific / for a longer time - Kindly donated by Prism Solutions via SJP
- Lisa von Hallwyl Milliner, Your own design Hat made to order for your special occasion
- The Ellenborough Park Hotel, Cheltenham. An Overnight Stay for 2 in a Traditional Room inclusive breakfast. Dinner for 2 in The Brasserie and Use of the Spa Facilities.
- Cheltenham Racecourse Two Enclosure tickets to the Festival Trials Day on Saturday 30th January 2016
- Ratcatcher, Gentleman's high quality Tweed Shooting vest/waistcoat Size 42 - kindly donated by Charles Wall Country Clothing, Yorks
- Bowood Hotel, Spa & Golf Club Winter 4 Ball Golf day (for 4 people) at Bowood Golf Resort - with many thanks to Lord Lansdowne
- Bath Racecourse – Two Non-Feature Day Grandstand Entry Tickets to Bath Racecourse during the 2016 season
- Boden £50 clothing voucher – with many thanks to Jonnie Boden
- Crew Clothing £100 voucher – with grateful thanks to the Managing Director
- Jigsaw A Dusty Blue Suede Large Tote Bag with dusty blue leather purse wallet attached inside – thanks to Belle & John Robinson
- The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa, Bath. Half day Spa Retreat for 2 people, including a half an hour treatment per person, 2 hours use of the spa facilities plus a 2 course light lunch or Afternoon tea - thanks to John Stapleton
- The Kings Head Hotel, Cirencester. Bed & Breakfast stay for two in one of their Classic Spaces - thanks to General Manager Sally Russell
- Eat Wild, Cirencester. Meal for 2 on a Tuesday (Steak Night)
- Licata's, Cirencester. A Blowdry
- Plum, Cirencester. £50 Clothing Voucher
- Joules £20 Voucher
- Stella & Dot Wendy Necklace
- Beautifully Decorated Home Made Christmas Cake - thanks to Karen Organ
- Thorntons Chocolates
Cotswold Outdoor many wonderful items including
- Jack Wolfskin Ladies M Grey Heather Ashford Parka
- Jack Wolfskin Mens M Black Mountain Creek Jacket
- The North Face Ladies M Black Castagnola Down Jacket
- The North Face Mens Black Loreto Triclmate Jacket
- Travel Chair
- The North Face Brianna Polartec fleece hoody, Seaspray Green Ladies M
- Barts Black Knitted Hat
- Multi colour sriped knitted hat
- Buff Multi functional headwear x 2
- Picnic Chair
- Osprey Dry Sacks x 2
- Sigg metal water bottles x 2
- Twister Poncho
- Tyny Keyclips x 2
- Boc'n'Roll Sandwich Wrap
- True Utility Mobile Charger x 2
- HiGear AxioMax Watch
- Julbo Spectron Sports Sunglasses
- Vango Triple flexi lights
- DooHickey Multi-tool
- Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen designed Cupcakes Kitchen Collection
- Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen designed Pudding Club Kitchen Collection
- Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen designed Mug & Tea Spoon Set x 2
- Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen designed Boxed Pair of Christmas Eve Mugs
- A Pinch of Posh Book by Laurence & Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen
- Decorating with Laurence Book by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
Goody Bags kindly donated by Blushes Hair Salon & House of Fraser.
Thank you to our generous sponsors for an amazing array of Auction & Raffle prizes:
- 1 hour Helicopter pleasure flight for up to 3 people, from either Liverpool John Lennon airport or the Cotswold airport at a date to be arranged by the highest bidder. There will also be the ability to add additional hours (at cost price) should this be required to visit somewhere specific / for a longer time - Kindly donated by Prism Solutions via SJP
- Lisa von Hallwyl Milliner, Your own design Hat made to order for your special occasion
- The Ellenborough Park Hotel, Cheltenham. An Overnight Stay for 2 in a Traditional Room inclusive breakfast. Dinner for 2 in The Brasserie and Use of the Spa Facilities.
- Cheltenham Racecourse Two Enclosure tickets to the Festival Trials Day on Saturday 30th January 2016
- Ratcatcher, Gentleman's high quality Tweed Shooting vest/waistcoat Size 42 - kindly donated by Charles Wall Country Clothing, Yorks
- Bowood Hotel, Spa & Golf Club Winter 4 Ball Golf day (for 4 people) at Bowood Golf Resort - with many thanks to Lord Lansdowne
- Bath Racecourse – Two Non-Feature Day Grandstand Entry Tickets to Bath Racecourse during the 2016 season
- Boden £50 clothing voucher – with many thanks to Jonnie Boden
- Crew Clothing £100 voucher – with grateful thanks to the Managing Director
- Jigsaw A Dusty Blue Suede Large Tote Bag with dusty blue leather purse wallet attached inside – thanks to Belle & John Robinson
- The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa, Bath. Half day Spa Retreat for 2 people, including a half an hour treatment per person, 2 hours use of the spa facilities plus a 2 course light lunch or Afternoon tea - thanks to John Stapleton
- The Kings Head Hotel, Cirencester. Bed & Breakfast stay for two in one of their Classic Spaces - thanks to General Manager Sally Russell
- Eat Wild, Cirencester. Meal for 2 on a Tuesday (Steak Night)
- Licata's, Cirencester. A Blowdry
- Plum, Cirencester. £50 Clothing Voucher
- Joules £20 Voucher
- Stella & Dot Wendy Necklace
- Beautifully Decorated Home Made Christmas Cake - thanks to Karen Organ
- Thorntons Chocolates
Cotswold Outdoor many wonderful items including
- Jack Wolfskin Ladies M Grey Heather Ashford Parka
- Jack Wolfskin Mens M Black Mountain Creek Jacket
- The North Face Ladies M Black Castagnola Down Jacket
- The North Face Mens Black Loreto Triclmate Jacket
- Travel Chair
- The North Face Brianna Polartec fleece hoody, Seaspray Green Ladies M
- Barts Black Knitted Hat
- Multi colour sriped knitted hat
- Buff Multi functional headwear x 2
- Picnic Chair
- Osprey Dry Sacks x 2
- Sigg metal water bottles x 2
- Twister Poncho
- Tyny Keyclips x 2
- Boc'n'Roll Sandwich Wrap
- True Utility Mobile Charger x 2
- HiGear AxioMax Watch
- Julbo Spectron Sports Sunglasses
- Vango Triple flexi lights
- DooHickey Multi-tool
- Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen designed Cupcakes Kitchen Collection
- Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen designed Pudding Club Kitchen Collection
- Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen designed Mug & Tea Spoon Set x 2
- Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen designed Boxed Pair of Christmas Eve Mugs
- A Pinch of Posh Book by Laurence & Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen
- Decorating with Laurence Book by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
Goody Bags kindly donated by Blushes Hair Salon & House of Fraser.
