London Ball raises £600k for Red Cross
Howard Lake | 25 November 2006 | News
The Red Cross’s annual London Ball this year raised £600k for the charity, although this is £70k down on last year.
This is the 13th year the charity has organised the Ball, which peaked in 2003 with a total of over £1m raised.
This year’s event had a ‘Secret Garden’ theme with high profile guests such as Hugh Grant, Jemima Khan, Ian Wright and Andrew Neil. Ten thousand pounds was raised by Henry Mainwaring jumping on stage to dance and sing with performer Gena West in response to a bet from Grant and Khan.
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An auction raised £260,000 for the charity, with lots including a Balenciaga limited edition ‘Classic’ peccary handbag and a custom-built Dock Gate Custom Cycle. A spontaneous appeal for British Red Cross ambulances raised enough money to buy four vehicles in less than 90 seconds.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.