The generosity of the Tartan
Army and their friends was never in doubt - but we absolutely smashed
the £10,000 target in the end.
From individual donations to
organised sponsored activity, so many people have chipped in that it's
hard to convey my gratitude properly. Here's a summary of what was
raised and how:
Charity Ball - £4,800 raised Held
on Saturday 19th August, this really kick-started the project. Not only
was it a great fun night, with Scots and Ukrainians combining to create
a great atmosphere, but it was the first event to come together.
Altogether we raised £2,400 on the night - a sum matched by the employees of an Edinburgh firm who have asked to remain unnamed.
110
folk attended the evening, each ticket giving us a £5 profit. We also
raked in £570 from raffle tickets, another £1,020 from the auction, and
£340 in personal donations on the night. Tesco Personal Finance also
donated £500 to pay for the Ukrainian band that'd travelled up from
Coventry.
The Charity Ball was a great success, judging by the amount of dancing & singing being done and the amount of money raised.
The
evening started well with a real buzz in the Gallery Bar, everyone
dressed up for the occasion. After staff ushered everyone up to the
Apex Suite, dinner was served, accompanied by Ukrainian music from
Zabava band Chorna Roza who'd travelled up from Coventry.
The
raffle took place during coffee (star prizes were Champions League
tickets and One Spa vouchers), and then Ukrainian photographer Alina
Kisina said a few emotional words about one of the orphanages. Roddy
Scott volunteered to do the auction and proceeded to entertain everyone
for 30 minutes, and (more importantly) to squeeze a fair amount of cash
out of the audience.
The rest of the night was like a Ukrainian wedding (well, possibly - i've never actually seen one), the band assisted by singer SofiyaFedyna
who made sure everyone did a turn on the dancefloor. Highlights were a
Ukrainian-style conga/Loch Lomond combo, Alex Demianczuk's display of
Cossack acrobatics, and pretty much everyone having a bit of a waltz,
tango, shuffle or whatever took their fancy!
