Hotcourses Foundation Fund Raising Gala Dinner at the Houses of Parliament
On Thursday the 3rd of February 2011 West London College took part in a gala dinner in the Members Dining Room at the House of Commons hosted by Baroness Morris of Yardley. Baroness Morris is one of the Hotcourses Foundation Trustees, along with Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and WLC's own Chairman, Simon Cleaver.
The dinner was attended by 150 people and Jonathan Dimbleby was a very erudite guest speaker. Sister Mary Owens, head of the Nyumbani HIV orphanage, came all the way from Kenya to attend the event and speak about the work being done in Kenya. It was really moving to hear directly how many children are being helped and understand the challenges ahead.
Since the event we have received some really wonderful feedback from guests who described the evening as 'inspiring', 'fascinating' and 'thought provoking' and everyone who attended seemed to be in agreement that the House of Commons is a really special venue.
During the course of the evening we held a silent auction, brilliantly compered by Wilfred Emmanuel Jones, founder of The Black Farmer, which included some wonderful prizes donated by Berry Bros & Rudd, British Airways, Tom Aikens, Champneys, James Blunt and other friends and Trustees of Nyumbani UK and Hotcourses Foundation. The auction was a huge success with a massive total of £45,000 raised with a further large donations being given including a generous donation to cover the cost of the construction of the sports pitch for the orphanage High School which was one of the key aims for the evening.
Another highlight was the presentation of a cheque for £1,000, single-handedly raised by Georgia Nicklin, the daughter of West London College's Group Accountant. Sixteen year old Georgia had raised the money by baking and selling cakes to friends and at her school over a six month period. Sister Mary was absolutely thrilled to receive Georgia's donation and wrote her a special letter of thanks (see below) on her return to Kenya.
So all in all the event was a great success and most importantly helped to raise awareness of the work that is being done for the children in Kenya and will hopefully have made a lot of new friends for Nyumbani UK & Hotcourses Foundation. A huge thanks to everyone who attended and thank you to everyone who continues to support everything we are trying to achieve.
Click on the images below to enlarge
Georgia Nicklin with Sister Mary and the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, at the event.
The thank you letter to West London College's Georgia Nicklin received from Sister Mary.
About the Hotcourses Foundation
The Hotcourses Foundation was set up in 2004 to help fund the education of HIV+ children in the developing world whose access to education is limited or non-existent.
West London College and it's parent organisation, British Study Centres, try to do what they can to help by making annual donations to the Foundation. BSC's Chairman, Simon Cleaver, is a trustee of the charity.
Our objective is to make a measurable, tangible difference to the lives of children in some of the poorest parts of the world. Initially we have focused on AIDS-orphans in Kenya, providing money to fund their education and provide school uniforms and related resources. The Hotcourses Foundation is particularly proud of the primary school it built in Kitui, eastern Kenya, which came top in recent assessments of schools in the area. We are now building our second school in the region.
The trustees of the Hotcourses Foundation are Jeremy Hunt MP, Baroness Morris of Yardley (former Secretary of State for Education), Mike and Sarah Elms, Simon Cleaver and Alex Williams.
What can you do to help?
You can help us to help these vulnerable children and young adults by signing up to become a sponsor. You can either sign up for a monthly payment, make a one-off lifetime donation or make a general donation to the Foundation. Just go to www.hotcoursesfoundation.org for full details.
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