Charity Dinner Raises £127,000

HAC Dinner: on 6 September 2010, the Trust ran a Charity Dinner for 310 guests, hosted by 35 members of the Regiment who had experienced tours in Afghanistan. The event was held in the Prince Regent Hall, The Honourable Artillery Company, City Road, London. The evening started off with a Champagne reception outside the hall where guests were able to visit weapons and equipment stands and talk to members of the Regiment. They were also treated to a Beating of the Retreat by the Regimental Band, sadly the Red Devils were unable to jump but the guests did get to see an RAF Chinook landing and taking off on the outfield of the cricket pitch!

The aim of the evening was to raise funds for the Trust and we were not disappointed, during the course of the dinner a Silent Auction was held, then following a stirring presentation by Col Stuart Tootal the Main Auction swung into action and the guests made some amazingly generous bids. Roger Dakin, the Auctioneer and MC for the night, kept the momentum going with a game of the Higher/Lower and guests bid on their own tables for bronze paratrooper statuettes.

The event was sponsored by ACM Shipping, Boeing and Knightsbridge Guarding who helped pay for some of the costs. In all, together with the fundraising activities, the Trust made just under £127k net on the night, which is a spectacular amount of money and our thanks goes to all who attended.