25th Anniversary Gala Ball
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1st October 2005
The 25th Anniversary fund-raising Gala Ball held on 1st October 2005 at the Harrow Leisure Centre UK, was an evening not to be forgotten by the 1,000 guests who attended the event. Treasurer Chris Green said he was delighted but not surprised by the generosity of those who attended, as we have always had their support – it’s as if people came to this function with a clear determination to help the charity.
This was proved right as cash & cheques were handed in throughout the evening. Amongst the donations received, a personal £1,001 donation was made by life-long HAPC supporter Anthony X. D’Souza who wanted to mark the 25th anniversary in a special way .
HAPC dupporter Anthony D’Souza presenting HAPC Chairman, Derrick Pereira with a cheque for £1,001.
Donations, as a result of fund-raising functions, held during the year by the Good News Movement Group, Christine & Sunita from Bristol, Dark Star Social Club and Tim Staton’s London Marathon efforts – ensured that the first target of £15,000 was achieved, to purchase the land for the building of the Children’s village. Then there were those who donated various prizes to boost the Raffle.
Good News Movement President, Nick Mankoo presenting HAPC with a £1,748 cheque, raised from their recent ‘Line Dancing’ function
West London band “Second Nature”, Leicester band “Karibu”, North London disco “Say-One-Do-One” and Sound London disco “Music Mania” joined with professional band “Bootleg Buddy” to keep everyone on their toes from 7pm to 1.30am. Thereafter, until 3.00am, propping up the evening and, no doubt, keeping the younger generation happy with an array of Bhangra, R&B and Club sounds were Radio DJ’s Hitla and Manoj. The pick of the evening, however, was a group of girls from the Angel school of dancing, who staged three performances of well choreographed ‘Bhangra’ dancing. One of these groups were young children aged no more than 5 years. Fitting, that they should be on stage to ‘help a poor child’. All of these artists provided their services without charge, which undoubtedly helped us reach our initial target. The charity will always be indebted to all those who contributed and helped to make it a success.
“Second Nature” thrilling the guests with a dynamic performance
The evening’s entertainment provided an excellent mix of music for all the different cultures present, spanning at least three generations. One satisfied guest, attending the Gala for the very fist time, left the venue at 3.15am saying that he was amazed the charity only charged £15 per head for the variety of entertainment that was put on show and went on to say that his guests would have gladly paid £25 or more!
All the way from Leicester, “Karibu” keeping the capacity crowd on their toes