Norwood’s annual fundraising dinner, held on Monday night at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair, raised an incredible £3.3m. More than 1,300 guests, including the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, entertainment mogul Simon Cowell and entrepreneur Theo Paphitis attended the glittering event – which featured guest speaker Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. For the first time, the entire community was able to follow the evening online via a live feed of photos, tweets and video clips posted on Norwood’s main website and its Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages. It is estimated that on the night Norwood communicated with more than 100,000 people.
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The Duchess, who was accompanied earlier in the evening by her daughter, Princess Beatrice, spoke to guests about her involvement with children’s charities and her visit to Norwood’s services in Hendon last month. She described meeting Naomi Mushin, who lives in a Norwood residential care home and baked cupcakes to celebrate the Duchess’s visit. “Being at Norwood filled my heart, restored my faith in human nature and gave me strength,” she said.
Video of Dutchess of York visit to Norwood
Norwood recently announced proposals to reduce its annual operating costs by £3million, due to an anticipated reduction in local government funding building to £4million each year. During a series of appeals made throughout the evening, diners and digital participants were asked to dig even deeper than usual and help the charity raise an additional £1million.
The main appeal was made by Lisa Cramer, whose son Baruch uses a range of life-changing Norwood services, including its Unity recreational club and the Buckets & Spades short-break facility. The Cramers were among three families whose involvement with Norwood was highlighted in One Big Family, a moving appeal film shown to guests. Another film participant, Rochelle Reindorp, had her dreams fulfilled later in the evening when she was given the opportunity to meet her idol, Simon Cowell.
The dinner featured the Helping Hand Awards, which celebrates the selfless dedication shown to others by ‘unsung heroes’ in the community. The awards were hosted by television presenter Kate Garraway and were this year renamed the Lady J Helping Hand Awards in memory of the late Lady Jakobovits, one of the initiative’s founding patrons.
Recipients of the awards were: Frances Goldberg, who acts as a carer for her brother, her mother and an elderly neighbour; Adam Williams, who founded the Kippot for Hope social enterprise which provides support for a small Jewish community in Uganda; and Aims2Cure, a voluntary group which supports research into Multiple Sclerosis.
The evening began with a performance by Glasgow-based dance troupe, The Box, a group of 13 young dancers who recently featured on Sky 1’s Got to Dance live show. Entertainment was also provided by former Blue singer Simon Webbe, who performed two songs from his latest solo album during a surprise appearance.
Simon Cowell talks to Norwood
Following the dinner, Norwood’s Chief Executive Norma Brier said: “We are delighted to have raised £3.3 million. This is a wonderful achievement in this difficult economic climate and I would like to thank our supporters for their incredible generosity. However, we still need the support of the whole community to raise an additional £400k to ensure that we do not have to cut services and that we are able to continue providing the safety net that so many people rely on.”
To see all the videos & photos from the night, including an interview with Simon Cowell, visit:
www.facebook.com/norwooduk
www.youtube.com/norwoodtv
www.twitter.com/norwooduk
