FoundationHighlights Edition 103 l April 2017

Helping young people smile

Director’s Message Welcome to this month’s edition of highlights. March was a busy month and a definite highlight was our Awards Lunch, celebrating how collectively we have changed the lives of thousands of disabled, sick and disadvantaged young people. Together we have been that helping hand that provides young people with the tools, support and opportunities that they need to be the best that they can be. We were joined at our celebrations by supporters from across the UK, including representatives from United Fresh, Sysco, Production Plus, Les Mills, Pellier Photography and of course our numerous supporters at Hilton. A fantastic day, seeing dear friends, and celebrating what our stars achieved. I was also fortunate to meet Holly and her friends from Magpie Dance at our Awards Lunch. Together with her friends they had developed a dance performance for our guests and got special permission to be out of school to be able to join us. Choreographed by themselves and danced with enthusiasm and passion, they were completely unfazed about performing in front of everyone. They were fantastic and clearly demonstrated the impact that the Foundation can have. Holly goes to Magpie Dance twice a week and expresses herself through dance, builds her friendship network and keeps active. At the end of their performance we were delighted to award a grant of £1,000 (picture below with our Deputy Chairman Dame Maureen Thomas) to help Magpie Dance continue their work with young people with learning difficulties. The month also included a meeting of our Grants Committee. Already this year we have received 90 applications, requesting over £707,000 for things as diverse as a new tent, new books through to a new playground as well as music therapy, Maths and English classes. A shortlist was reviewed by the Committee and they awarded £46,781 which will provide such things as an inclusive play area; purchase a Bike Trailer and tow bar to take teens with ADHD on outdoor challenges and residential teambuilding experiences; and providing mums who are HIV+ and who are recommended not to breast-feed with formula food. The Committee also referred to the Trustees a grant of £18,995 for the purchase of a minibus, and a grant of £24,741 for the installation of a home economics classroom at a specialneeds school, which will engage the students in regular cooking lessons and encourage healthy lifestyles.

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Director’s Message continued This month we also began the next phase of our employment programme for young offenders, The Right Course, with volunteers from Hilton London Gatwick Airport, Hilton London Heathrow Airport T4, Hilton London Angel Islington and Galvin at Windows all visiting the prison to train the lads. By sharing their skills and transforming the staff canteen at the Prison into a restaurant the inmates gain regular experience and mentoring by the hospitality industry so that they are job ready by release. This process will also see the trainers at the prison spending time at Galvin at Windows so that they too are upskilled and better equipped to impart industry experience to the young men. Over the coming months we will also have volunteers from Hilton London Canary Wharf, Hilton London Syon Park and Hilton London Euston donating their time to the project. A fantastic start to the project and we are so grateful to all the volunteers for giving their time and skills so freely. As I look forward to the month ahead we have some sweet treats in store. Our Easter ChariTEA campaign is running from the 10-16 April with supporters producing their signature bakes to help the Foundation. Good luck everyone and no soggy bottoms please… ready, steady, bake!

Simon Sheehan, Director

Easter ChariTEA Dates: 10th to 16th April 2017 Host a bake off and help transform the lives of young people today. More information at dmtfyp.org/afternoon-chariTEA

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Foundation Awards

On Friday 17 March, we were delighted to hold a special Awards ceremony and lunch at Hilton London Kensington, to honour our valued supporters. Hosted by our Director Simon Sheehan, awards were presented by our founding Trustee Dame Maureen Thomas. Fred Sirieix, co-founder of our into-work programme, Galvin’s Chance, and the driving force behind our newest employment programme, The Right Course, attended to give a keynote speech about helping young people. The ceremony gave our supporters a chance to meet each other, renew acquaintances and collectively celebrate how we have transformed young lives. A special performance by children from Magpie Dance gave attendees a great example of how we help young people. For more photos from the day please visit our Facebook album. Clockwise from top: Our supporters celebrate £16.9 million given by the Foundation to support disadvantaged children and young people; the team at Hilton London Kensington with local project partner Rugby Portobello Trust win the Project Partnership Award and a donation of £1,000; Cora Brocklebank and Liz Watson from Hilton Birmingham Metropole collect a Runners Up for Project Partnership Award and donation of £500 for local project partner Gro-Organic; Cat Williamson and Mark Walker of Hilton Northern Ireland receive the award for Most Profitable Event, for their annual Golf Day which last year raised more than £19,000 with all costs donated; Fred Sirieix collects his award for Creating Opportunities for Young People; Dame Maureen with John McLaughlin of Hilton Manchester Deansgate, which received a Trustees’ Special Recognition Award for their Star Ball, which last year doubled its net income. Steven Morgan of Jigsaw Trust with Dame Maureen and Deborah Richards of Hilton Cobham collect a Runners Up for Project Partnership Award together with a donation for £500.

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“Thank you so much to all our supporters, volunteers and generous donors. Without your help, the Foundation would not be able to help so many children and young people. We are incredibly grateful for your support.” Dame Maureen Thomas

Left to right from top: Cora Brocklebank and Liz Watson from Hilton Birmingham Metropole receive the Project Partnership runner up award from Dame Maureen Thomas; Steven Morgan and Deborah Richards of Hilton Cobham receive their Project Partnership Runner Up award; Nicky Willard from Hilton Brighton Metropole receives a Trustees’ Special Recognition Award; our supporters and friends of the Foundation gather at the Awards ceremony; the team from Hilton London Kensington with Rugby Portobello Trust with their Project Partnership Award 2016. Claudia Candiotto of the EMEA Corporate Responsibility team receives, on behalf of Hilton, a Long Term Partner Award 2016. Fran Barham receives, on behalf of Sysco Guest Supply, a Corporate Supporter of the Year Award. Unable to attend to collect their awards in person were Hilton Dublin Airport (Pledge Award Winner 2016), DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station (Ducks for Change Award) and Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa (Making a Splash Award 2016).

ds ar Aw Clockwise from top: Christian Paynton and Noel Kershaw from United Fresh win an award for Event Supporter of the Year; Jessica Kelly from Hilton London Heathrow Terminal 4 which receives a Trustees’ Special Recognition Award. Attendees toast the Foundation and look under their Champagne glasses for stickers to see whether they have won a bottle of bubbly! Victoria Sant of Hilton London Gatwick Airport and Samiya Rashid of the Foundation expressing ‘Names and Shapes’ with Holly from Magpie Dance. Angela Row and Fran Barham receive the Team of the Year award on behalf of Hilton Supply Management and Mark Walker and Catherine Williamson of Hilton Northern Ireland return to the stage to receive a Runners Up award for Team of the Year.

ds ar Aw Left to right from top: The team at Hilton Brighton Metropole celebrate their Trustees’ Special Recognition Award with ice cream by the sea; Magpie Dancers lead a ‘Name and Shape’ exercise for Award attendees; Sylvia Ross receives a Trustees Special Recognition Award for her continued support for the Foundation; Scott Hurley of Hilton’s HR Shared Services; Cora Brocklebank with John McLaughlin; Simon Sheehan, Dame Maureen, Gillian Alexander and Iain Pollock take part in the ‘Name and Shape’ game; volunteers enjoy a superb lunch provided by Chef Karl Richardson and his team at Hilton London Kensington.

Congratulations to all our award winners

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Blackpool Musical Extravaganza March 6th saw the 9th annual Celebration of Music held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, a special event organised by Hilton Blackpool in partnership with Millfield Science and Performing Arts College, in aid of the Foundation. Pictured above, children from across the 17 participating schools and colleges perform a group song, ‘The Climb’ in a grand finale. The event also featured ukuleles, drums and interpretive dance as well as some fantastic singing. The evening was compered by Mike Deaville and was attended by Councillor Terry Lees, the Mayor of Wyre and more than 900 friends and family members packed into the famous theatre to see their children perform on stage. Representatives from the Foundation and from local charities attended, including Donna’s Dream House, Chernobyl Children’s Lifeline and Positive Youth Trust. The team from Hilton Blackpool were headed by Karen Oldroyd and included former staff who volunteered their time to ensure everybody had a fantastic night ot remember. Mr Sean Bullen, Head Teacher of Millfield College was delighted to be there for the ninth annual event and the Millfield performers sang ‘Home Fires’ with accompanying dance. More than £7,000 was raised through ticket sales and an on-the-night raffle. We are so grateful to everybody for their hard work and generosity.

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Blackpool Celebration of Music (Continued from previous page)

The children who participated in the event were visibly excited to have this fantastic opportunity to perform the songs and dances they had rehearsed on stage and in front of such a large crowd. Performances included Sacred Heart Cathlolic Primary School’s ‘Simply Rock’, singing and dancing to We Will Rock You and Rcking All Over the World (pictured top); Stanah Showstoppers from Stanah Primary School who performed ‘True Colours’ (pictured above). Flakefleet Primary School delivered the Flakefleet Samba, with more than 70 drummers and tom-tom players led by 10-year old Hollie. The Lion King was brought to Blackpool by Charles Saer Community Primary School who performed a medley of songs from the Disney stage production. Plans are already underway for the 10th annual event!

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Help us transform the lives of young people and become a duck seller

Get our new Big Cats set today by contacting the Foundation, every set you buy makes a difference to a young persons life.

Changing lives one R Quack OARat a time! For more information on the ducks please email the team at [email protected] or call 0207 605 7642 April 2017

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Jade trumpets her success The OHMI Trust is one of our charity project partners, based in Edgbaston, Birmingham. OHMI is focused on pioneering the development and adaptation of musical instruments for those who are physically disabled. We have helped fund specially adapted musical instruments, which can be used by children with an upper limb disability. OHMI seeks to remove the barriers to making music that are faced by someone with a physically disability, and to enable full participation in musical life, whether at school, in the home or in a professional ensemble. One of the participants is Jade, an 11 year old who was born with Poland Syndrome. Jade started learning the trumpet in September and has already joined in with the Up! Orchestra and Infinity Orchestra run by Surrey Arts. Prior to her participation in the OHMI project Jade had tried ukulele lessons but she was not able to join in due to her small and not fully formed right hand. The trumpet stand has taken over the role of this hand and with a small adaptation to the trumpet to make it suitable for left handed use. She now has the potential to do everything that her peers can do on the instrument. Her mum, Susan, said that although Jade’s older siblings had enjoyed music lessons, they had avoided them for Jade due to her impairment as they did not know such adaptatinos were possible. Jade is thriving on the project and has said that her success and the opportunity to join in the ensembles has boosted her confidence and social skills hugely.

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Helping children in hospital with vital support

The Foundation helps children who are sick in hospital and we do this by supporting fantastic projects across the areas we operate. This may be through buying new medical equipment such as incubators, or diagnostic equipment not available through statutory sources. We help provide diversionary toys and equipment to ease the pain and suffering of children as they undergo medical procedures and treatments. Last year, we awarded £374,326 to help young people under our giving remit of ‘health’.

Improving hospital care Our supporters from Hilton Cardiff were delighted to award a grant of £11,250 to Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity, to help it provide equipment, diversionary activities and a better care environment for hundreds of children who receive treatment at the hospital. The magnificent sum was raised at the hotel’s latest Foundation Ball, which was held in October last year. The event was attended by mezzosoprano Katherine Jenkins. A further £11,250 was raised to support the Foundation’s central grants programme, which helps transform the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in Wales and across the UK and Ireland. Pictured left to right: Andrea Price of Hilton Cardiff, Eddie Hayward of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity; Jeff Elliot from Hilton Cardiff; Connie Fisher, singer/actress and supporter of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity; Suzanne Mainwaring, Director of Noah’s Ark; Marie Fagan, General Manager of Hilton Cardiff and Rachel Williams, Guest Relations Manager at the hotel.

Providing specialist equipment Children in hospital in London also benefited from the volunteering and fundraising efforts of our supporters at Hilton London Metropole. The Imperial College Health Care Charity is currently extending the children’s intensive care unit at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. They were delighted to receive £2,215 towards their goal, from a special Christmas Ball held in December 2016. Akiko Kirihara (pictured right), Personal Trainer at the hotel, organised the event. She visited the hospital with Shadi Attalla, Executive Lounge Manager and Giulia Settomini (Dancing with the Stars Choreographer) and together they presented the grant to Laura Kell, Acting Director of Fundraising.

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Helping children’s care with better facilities Following their fairytale themed Foundation Ball ‘Once Upon a Time’, team members from Hilton Bath City attended the Royal United Hospital to donate £2,155.09 to the help support the Children’s Unit, which has 33 in-patient beds. The Once Upon a Time Ball was attended by more than 100 people and featured Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and a fun Gift Tree, which yielded some amazing prizes. Entertainment was provided by Fraser Lawson. The cheque was presented to the unit by James Howard and Karen Watts from the hotel. The hospital will invest the funds into its Paediatric Assessment Unit, as they are looking to purchase another trolley bed and portable oxygen saturation monitors to help towards increasing the efficiency of the unit. Children’s Unit Senior Sister Melanie Gittins said: “The

support means so much to us. It is great to know that we have a mutually beneficial relationship with Hilton Bath City that gives us the opportunity to fundraise through their annual charity ball. It is also an opportunity for our hardworking team to have a chance to dress up and dance the night away!” Simon Sheehan Director of the Foundation said: “At

the Foundation we want to ensure that every young person facing health challenges receives the best possible care. We are very proud to support the Children’s Unit to make life in hospital as good as possible for children and their families.” Karen Watts, who spearheaded the organisation of the Ball, has announced on behalf of the hotel that they are busy planning for their next Ball, with a Midsummer theme, to be held on 16 June.

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Supporting life-limited children The Foundation extends its health support to reaching children and young people with terminal illnesses. We do this by supporting the children’s hospice movement and by helping with transition projects, as young adults are now living longer thanks to medical advances. We also support adults hospices to extend their provision and suitable facilities for young adults aged 18-25 who may need their services. Last year, we were able to support a number of hospice projects, including a new wheelchair-accessible minibus for Naomi House Children’s Hospice in Hampshire. In Leeds, Martin House Children`s Hospice is marking 30 years of care this year. During this time they have offered a vital lifeline to families, providing much-needed respite stays, care in their own homes, end of life care and support in bereavement. Pictured left-right, Steve Hall, recently retired General Manager of Hilton Leeds City, John Haigh of Martin House and Janet McAteer of the hotel. Like all children’s hospices, they rely almost entirely on the local community to help raise the money needed to provide their services. The team at Hilton Leeds City works hard to provide ongoing support through their Foundation nominations, to help Martin House face these challenges head on.

Janet McAteer, long term supporter of the Foundation and an amazing fundraiser and champion of local causes said:

“To be able to offer support to those less fortunate in our local community is very rewarding”.

Rewarding your work We were delighted to be invited to present two awards at the Hilton UK and Ireland Awards 2016 event, which took place at Hilton London Metropole on 23 February. Our Board selected two hotels to receive awards in recognition of their superb support for the Foundation. Each winning hotel raised the most amount of money for the Foundation in 2016 in their region and we wanted to acknowledge this, as we rely on voluntary donations to support the grants that we make to transform young live. Every penny really does count. The Waldorf Hilton, which raised the most of the London hotels, was able to raise a magnificent £27,355 in particular thanks to their ‘Kinky Boots’ Gala evening, which was held in partnership with the Foundation and local project partner KIDS. Outside London, the hotel to raise the most for the Foundation in 2016 was Hilton Manchester Deansgate, which raised a stupendous £105,920 This was largely acheived by their Star Ball, which supported the Foundation and local project partner the SMA Trust. Congratulations to the winning hotels and thank you for your commitment to our charity. Your support is greatly appreciated.

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The Right Course An exciting collabboration of companies and individuals is working with the Foundation to offer young people who are in prison the chance to train and secure employment on release. The Right Course was showcased at an event on 21 February, when renowned chef Chris Thompson of Maze and the Duck and Waffle, worked with the inmates to run a pop-up restaurant for the night. The Right Course is running at The Quays staff restaurant at HMP Isis, a Category C prison in South London. Spearheaded by Fred Sirieix, the employability programme seeks to upgrade and upskill staff restaurants on the prison estate to be indistinguishable from high street restaurants. The Right Course model is to create a busy and fun training environment, demonstrating the importance of great customer service and instilling pride in food production and delivery. Chris Galvin, Jose Pizarro and Chris Thompson together with their teams have each given freely of their time and talents to deliver these special showcase events, attended by prison staff, dignatories and programme partners. Since March 6, pairs of volunteers from Galvin at Windows and Hilton hotels in London have attended the prison to help share their skills and knowledge about running a restaurant. Partners involved in The Right Course and working with DM Thomas Foundation for Young People include: The Ministry of Justice, NOMS (National Offender Management Service), Novus, Hilton, Land Securities, Redemption Roasters, CRC Probation and Trailblazers Mentoring. These organisations are helping bring their skills and networks to bear to help make The Right Course a success. The aim of the programme is to roll out across further prisons and provide mulltiple opportunities for young people to gain training and employment on their release.

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“A very worthwhile experience” Andy Smithers, Executive Chef at Hilton London Gatwick Airport, was one of the first volunteers to attend The Quays. He said: “It was a very enjoyable experience at the prison.

Making it happen Thank you to all those who have stepped forward to offer their skills and donate time to help deliver The Right Course training: Galvin at Windows: Fred Sirieix, General Manager Andrew Sicklin, Restaurant Manager

I was slightly anxious on the way in but that soon disappeared when I thought I was running late. And when I got there I didn’t need to have any concerns as I felt completely safe all of the time.

Mourad Jedidi, Senior Head Waiter

It was kind of a mad rush from about 09:20-12:00 to get the food / menu cooked and prepared using what ingredients were there. Also the equipment they had and the capability of the guys on the programme

Hilton:

added another dimension.

Chris Jefferson, Executive Chef, Hilton London Heathrow Airport T4

The supervisor who was looking after the area, Rachel Pryce, was very helpful and showed me what was available to use. There was a far more selection of ingredients than I was expecting so we could create pretty much anything. The larder, fridges and freezers were well stocked. I had 3 guys with me in the kitchen with a little knowledge as they had worked in there before. I quickly decided a menu, which we served a la carte during the service period. We were able to make a soup to start, along with a salad bar, a few sandwich selections, three different main hot meals and a dessert. I also managed to set the fire alarm off within about an hour as well which was quite amusing. Luckily we didn’t have to evacuate.

Emmeric Hurault, Assistant Restaurant Manager Thomas Richard, Bartender Antonio Forte, Assistant Restaurant Manager

Andy Smithers, Executive Chef, Hilton London Gatwick Airport Samantha Hill, HR, London Hilton on Park Lane

Mahmut Aslan,

Deputy Hotel Manager, Hilton London Angel Islington

Ryan Moss, HR, Hilton London Euston Konstantinos Kranakis, Executive Chef, Hilton London Syon Park Ben Deane, Director of Operations, Hilton London Canary Wharf Marcelo Mendonca, Hilton Human Resources Luke Davenport, Chef, Hilton London Heathrow Airport T4

Other volunteers: Chris Branscombe, Executive Chef, Searcys at M by Montcalm Tom Slegg, Restaurant Manager, Picture Restaurant Iona Mathieson, General Manager, Zelman Meats Michele Caggianese

We also look forward to working with volunteers from Land Securities, who will particularly assist with the interview skills and preparation for release as well as through-the-gate support.

The food also needs to be available to take away as some of the customers take it with them while some stay in the restaurant. I think we catered for about 5060 in a short amount of time. I did find the whole experience very beneficial and rewarding and look forward to returning in the next month or so. Thanks for the opportunity of this very worthwhile experience.”

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Meet Eloise our intrepid Marathon runner On Sunday 23 April, Eloise Kidner will be running the London Marathon on behalf of the Foundation, having won a competition for our Marathon spot. A student at Cambridge University studying Natural Sciences, this will be Eloise’s first Marathon. Why did you decide to run the London Marathon? It had always been so exciting watching the marathon on TV and then when my dad ran it 5 years ago I decided that I had to do it someday. I think it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision to try and do it this year considering that it’s my first year at Uni. But it’s been great to push me out of my comfort zone and just try things! Why are you fundraising for the Foundation? I was really inspired by all the amazing stories I’d read of the amazing young people whose lives have been improved and who have managed to achieve so much because of the Foundation’s work. I think that the ‘ABLE’ framework is such a wonderful idea for the way that the DM Thomas Foundation supports Young People. I feel I’ll really be able to make a difference through the money that I raise for the Foundation. How are you training for the marathon? I love the outdoors so I try to run outside as much as I can. I’ve made myself a chart for all the runs that I’m aiming to do with distance and time. I try to run about 5-7 miles at a decent pace 3 times during the week and then go for a longer run at the weekend. I’m slowly increasing the distance as I get nearer to the event. Then on the other days, I either go to the gym and use the cross trainer or treadmill, or quite often go for a run with a friend at a chatting pace. What is your goal for the race? Is there any particular time you want to achieve? My main goal of course is to complete it! But it would be amazing to get a time under 4 hours. What do you enjoy the most about long distance running? Long distance running allows you to see so much of the scenery around you and really appreciate it. I live on Dartmoor, so by running you get to experience some pretty amazing views. I also find that running is a great way to relax. I can have so many different things going round and round in my head and be worrying about them, but after a run I can think clearly again. I’ve also loved starting running at Uni because I’ve met some really great people through it and it’s a lot of fun. What’s the first thing you’re planning to do after the marathon? Probably watch Friends (it’s my favourite TV programme!), with a cup of tea and my dog. And sleep for a long time!! Good luck to Eloise and all the other amazing runners taking part on 23 April. To support Eloise click here. April 2017

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WHAT WILL YOU DO THIS YEAR TO TRANSFORM YOUNG LIVES? April 2017 SIGN UP NOW: [email protected]

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New minivan to help young people We were delighted to award a grant of £22,275 to Warrrington Youth Club in August last year, to enable them to purchase a new nine-seater minivan. The vehicle, which was finalised in early March, had one of its first outings to Hilton Manchester Deangate, where a group of young people from Warrington Youth Club were welcomed with hot chocolate and muffins in Cloud 23, overlooking Manchester. For some of the children it was their first visit to a Hilton hotel and to such jaw-dropping views. Dave McNicholl, CEO of the charity and pictured right with John McLaughlin and Christina Lyons of the hotel said of the visit:

“It was wonderful to be able to bring the children and young people to the hotel to meet you and show you the minibus, I was extremely proud to be able to show our vehicle, the minibus is already proving invaluable in supporting disabled young people with accessing our services and this will only increase as we move forwards. I would like to pass on my thanks to your full team and Matt and the Cloud 23 staff really pulled out the stops to make the young people feel so special. It really was an incredible experience”. April 2017

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Dates for your Diary Date Event

Venue

2 April 2017

Foundation Football Tournament

Camden Rhino Turf

10 April 2107

Foundation Easter ChariTEA

Various

23 April 2017

Virgin London Marathon

London

1 May 2017

Belfast Marathon

Belfast

6 May 2017

A Night at the West End Ball

Hilton London Kensington

17 May 2017

42nd Street Gala Dinner

The Waldorf Hilton

26 May 2017

Mayfair Power and Tower Race

Galvin at Windows

16 June 2017

Midsummer Ball

Hilton Bath City

19 June -25 June 2017

Around the World in a Day

Various

24 June 2017

Midsummer Ball

Hilton Brighton Metropole

Thanks to our corporate partners Here are just a few of the fantastic organisations who have given us their generous support. For a full list please click here.

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