The Mayor of Barnet, Cllr Caroline Stock, and her 2019-20 Mayor’s Appeal Committee drew on their impressive energy and resourcefulness to ensure that Saturday 25th April 2020 was a great fundraising success. When the coronavirus forced them to cancel their planned Gala Dinner at Middlesex University, they quickly determined to put on a replacement event on the same date, designed to raise as much money as possible for the Mayor’s chosen charities: Cherry Lodge Cancer Care and Home-Start Barnet. The committee’s huge efforts paid off and the Mayor’s Virtual Gala Dinner event – with its ‘Money Can’t Buy’ Auction and Virtual Raffle – raised more than £17,000. This excellent result, in very difficult circumstances, has brought this year’s Mayor’s Appeal total to an extremely impressive £48,000!
Thanks to the generosity of the Mayor’s supporters, there were some truly fantastic prizes to be won. Among the Auction prizes were chances to operate the machinery to open Tower Bridge, have lunch at The Old Bailey, take tea for two at the House of Commons, and visit an underground mushroom farm! Prizes in the Raffle included a smart, three-piece Delsey luggage set, a ‘4-Hole Golf Day at South Herts Golf Club, Totteridge, a decorative Gurkha Kothimura Khukri, and vouchers for the Haven and Bayleaf restaurants and a Spa Day at Champneys.
If you would like to watch the Mayor making the draws, please click here. This virtual event was also attended by Clive Coleman (BBC Legal correspondent, photo below) who made a short speech, by members of the Mayor’s Appeal Committee, by members of the Mayor’s family (including her mother, Eileen Eskensi, who chaired the Appeal Committee), by Deputy Mayor, Cllr Lachhya Bahadur Gurung, and by representatives of Cherry Lodge Cancer Care and Home-Start Barnet. Tina from Cherry Lodge and Luci from Home-Start Barnet both expressed their heartfelt thanks to the Mayor and her committee for their wonderful support in these challenging times.
Click here to access the Gala Dinner Brochure, which includes more information about this very successful Virtual Fundraising event (including a list of prize winners). The brochure also provides an overview of Mayor Caroline Stock’s fantastic fundraising year.
