One of the highlights of St Cuthbert’s Care’s calendar, the Corporate Ball, was held on 2nd October at the Newcastle Gateshead Hilton.
The Ball is always well supported by prominent local businesses and organisations and, although the recession did affect the numbers attending, over £44,000 was raised.
All the money will be used to maintain and develop St Cuthbert’s Care’s charitable services across the North East.
Guests at this year’s Ball were greeted with a champagne reception, where magician David Diamond mingled with the crowd, performing ‘close-up’ magic tricks, before an evening of musical entertainment with the Paul James Band and The Singing Waiters and a five course meal.
The evening was opened by St Cuthbert’s Care’s Chief Executive, Austin Donohoe, who explained to guests exactly how their donations would be used to help victims of poverty and social isolation across the region. Alan Shearer then gave a short speech about how much his support for the charity and the Alan Shearer Centre in particular had affected him – and encouraged guests to “dig deep”.
Long-time supporter Mike Browne was our compere for the night, taking charge of our exclusive “What Am I Bid?” auction, with fabulous prizes donated by our corporate supporters. Bidding was particularly brisk for the two top ‘lots’ – a six night skiing holiday in France with catering by BBC MasterChef finalist Peter Anderson, and two VIP places aboard a luxury yacht in Monaco for the 2010 Grand Prix.
Although the Ball officially ended at 1am, many guests kept the party going, taking advantage of the special discounted room rate kindly offered by the Hilton.