GOOD STUFF
Sweet charity Doing good things in the North East, our charity round-up GRAND AFFAIR >> Latimer Hinks Solicitors hosted 370 guests at Wynyard Hall in November at its prestigious Charity Ball. The black tie event, which included a fun-money casino and luxury prize raffle and auction, was compèred by international swing singer Cole Page and saw Britain’s Got Talent star David Penn wowing guests with close-up magic and illusions. Marking the culmination of the Darlingtonbased firm’s 125th year celebrations, the Ball, with support from County Durham Community Foundation, raised £36,000 for St Teresa’s Hospice and Darlington & Bishop Auckland MRI-Scanner Appeal, as well as a number of smaller local charities.
LIGHT FANTASTIC >> North East charity, The Watson Family Charitable Trust brought light and love to Newcastle with a beacon of light from St George’s Church, Jesmond. The church will now be lit up every evening. The Bishop of Newcastle, Christine Hardman led the thanksgiving service with mayor Linda Wright and the Reverend Canon Brian Hurst welcoming almost a thousand people to the service and the event. Ian Watson said: “We are supporting a wide range of educational and support services for children in the North East and beyond as well as community projects – of which the Jesmond lighting event was one. “As a neighbour of the church it has always struck me as wrong that such a beautiful building in the middle of our community can “disappear” when darkness falls. I’m delighted we have been able to gift this lighting so the community of Jesmond and the local area can enjoy our wonderful building in darkness as well as in daylight hours.” The Watson Family Charitable Trust also continues to work with and support the children at the Percy Hedley School.
Anto Finnegan, Eamonn Elliott (Chief Executive Rockliffe Hall), Eamonn’s daughter, Erin Dorothy Elliott (age 11)
HEARTFELT TRIP >> Rockliffe Hall’s Chief Executive, Eamonn Elliott, flew to Belfast especially to present a cheque for £6,465, to lifelong friend, Anto Finnegan, for his Trust, deterMND. The Trust was established on behalf of Anto, the former Antrim Gaelic football captain, after he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in August 2012. The money was raised after Eamonn and two colleagues at Rockliffe Hall, Executive Chef of The Orangery, Richard Allen, and Sales and Marketing Manager, Katie Scott, took part in the Helvellyn Triathlon in September. Additional funds were raised through a special charity golf day held at Rockliffe Hall in October.. deterMND aims to raise awareness of Motor Neurone Disease, and to raise funds for both the MND Association and MND research.
GENEROUS NIGHT >> More than £66,000 was raised at The Percy Hedley Foundation’s annual Mistletoe Ball. More than 300 guests enjoyed the Foundation’s annual fundraiser at Newcastle Marriott Gosforth Park, which was hosted by BBC Radio Newcastle’s Anna Foster. Money raised on the night will help Northern Counties School continue its pioneering work to help more disabled children and young people achieve their ambitions and lead full and active lives.The school, based in Jesmond, provides education for 90 children with a hearing impairment or visual impairment, profound and multiple learning disabilities or autism spectrum disorders.
DIARY DATES >> MARCH 10, 2018 St Oswald’s Hospice Roaring Twenties Ball, Hilton Hotel, Newcastle. email carolejacobs@stoswaldsuk.org or call 0191 285 0063 ext: 2125
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JET SET >> Just Travel Cover raised more than £3,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support at its first ever charity ball at Ramside Hall, Durham. The glitzy event was to recognise the hard work of staff and celebrate UK’s Best Travel Insurance Provider 2017 award.
Lady Elsie, John Reid (patient) Dr Alastair Greystoke (Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University and one of the Sir Bobby Robson Centre consultants running PROSPECT-NE), Sarah Leigh Nicholson (Laboratory Manager, Cellular Pathology), Steve Harper (Patron, SBR Foundation) and Alan Shearer (Patron, SBR Foundation)
BOOST >> A revolutionary new ‘personalised’ cancer treatment and research project is being funded by the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation in Newcastle. The PROSPECT-NE genome sequencing project will work with up to 800 cancer patients from across the North East and Cumbria over the next four years. It will help develop ‘personal’ cancer treatments, find out how cancer is impacting on patients’ health and determine in advance if side-effects are likely from treatment. Funded by an £892,000 contribution from the charity, the project is being delivered at the Royal Victoria Infirmary’s new state-of-the-art Newcastle Molecular Pathology Node Proximity Lab - an exciting partnership between Newcastle University and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Alan Shearer, a Patron of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, says: “One of the first questions I asked today was, would you be able to do this research without funds from the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation? And the answer was ‘no,’ so it’s all coming from Sir Bobby’s charity, which is just incredible.”
JAN/FEB18