When Hope Became Glory

Not only did this year’s Gala Dinner prove to be highly entertaining under the banner of Back 2 Black, but more importantly it helped raise a glorious £37,289 pounds for Hope House Children’s Hospice.

The event that was held on 28th April 2012 at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham, was attended by over 240 guests and generated one of the largest totals ever for the GM Fundraising Gala Dinner, up over 30% on the last one. In addition to the dinner, there was Olympic themed entertainment throughout the show and a charity auction.

There were a number of prizes donated and auction winners included Gareth Mobley from Solidor who won a British Cycling signed jersey and a signed Lionel Messi shirt won by Leon Day of Universal Arches. The media advertising package generated the considerable interest and thanks goes to the industry for their long-term support and David Leng of Synseal for the winning bid. Finally, a painting by the children of Hope House provided for a more emotive auction item.

The Gala Dinner was also used to announce the charity’s latest cycling adventure, Hope 66, in which 12 cyclists will tackle the iconic Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, Los Angeles in just 12 days. In September 2013 the riders and support crew will tackle the 2,500 mile challenge, which is already at the final planning stages with riders and support crew already confirmed. There still remain a few sponsorship opportunities.

Gary Morton, founder of GM Fundraising commented: “It never fails to amaze me how charitable the guests are and this has to go down as one of the best gala dinners yet. We’ve now raised over £850,000 and want to reach our £1million pound target by the end of 2013 and with the wonderful support of the industry and the GMF team, I believe we’ll do it.”

To keep up to date with the activities of GM Fundraising follow us on Twitter @gmfundraising and help build the following also check out our facebook page. Or if you wish to be a sponsor of Hope 66, then contact Gary Morton on gary@mighton.co.uk or alan@profix.biz