Meeting Needs, the event industry’s charity, gathered together leading figures, past and present, to an evening of celebration and recognition of the work that the charity supports and to say a heartfelt thank you to its fundraisers.
Two of the forty or so charities to receive donations, showcased projects that Meeting Needs had helped to fund this year. Dominic Tinner, from The Seashell Trust, talked passionately about their project which supports children with learning difficulties to lead more active and enriched lives through innovative learning therapies.
Project Harar is a charity working in Ethiopia, where there is an abnormally high level of congenital facial disfigurements, providing surgeons and post-operative care. Victoria Clare, from the charity, presented a number of examples where lives had been changed through surgery, with dramatic before and after photographs, the audience were visibly moved by the dramatic pictures of how the doctors were able to, literally, put a smile back on the faces of children and young adults alike.
A presentation was also made by Meeting Needs to BDRC Continental on reaching the milestone of £100,000 in fundraising, over the past ten years, by donating 50p per completed survey by venue bookers and delegate users.
The event also recognised the efforts of Charles Blowfield who is retiring as Honorary Treasurer after serving 14 years as a board member founder and of the charity.
Chair of Meeting Needs, Jennifer Jenkins commented that “We can only support these worthy causes through the continued generosity of our Charity Partners and the individual efforts of our industry fundraisers, if you’d like to get involved then please do make contact and we’ll explain how you could raise much needed cash to help with ongoing and new projects across the UK and the World”
