On Sunday 20th January 2013, with all the odds stacked against us in such adverse weather conditions, the LTFUC managed to pull off another brilliant and successful ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ in the Great Room of the Grosvenor House (a JW Marriott Hotel), giving hundreds of children a fantastic and unforgettable time, whilst also celebrating our 85th anniversary.
I must begin by giving grateful thanks to everyone who attended and braved the icy conditions, some travelling great distances to be with us; from Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Canvey Island, Southend, Bournemouth, Isle of Wight, Sussex and Surrey, with some having a four hour journey each way. Unfortunately not one celebrity apart from the Cheeky Girls turned up, but in our eyes all those entertainers, teachers, carers and helpers who did make it are the real celebrities. Although it was freezing outside, the warmth spread around the Great Room was just amazing with everyone ensuring the children had a magical time.
We thank the many costume characters who were on hand to greet the children and also extend our grateful thanks to the Household Cavalry for carrying the wheelchairs down to the Great Room. On arrival in the Great Room, each child was handed either a flashing ‘glo’ heart torch or a halo bopper and we thank Global Marketing Group for donating these and Bill Liddle for taking four hours to drive in from Lincolnshire to bring them. After the children enjoyed the heaps of sandwiches, cakes, crisps and juice on offer, there was an endless queue all afternoon for the chocolate fountain kindly donated by Prithpal Bhachu of ‘Party Choc’ and we extend our grateful thanks to him. The chocolate covered marshmallows and waffles looked very tempting, but by the time I got there they had all gone – greedy children !
The Fund’s Hon. Chair, Susan Angel, welcomed everyone and following Hon. Secretary Malcolm Shaffron’s ‘Health & Safety’ speech, the fun began. As usual our great compare and DJ Dave Davies of A1 Disco did a tremendous job throughout the day and we thank him for keeping things running smoothly. The entertainment started with Amanda’s Action Show, with Amanda and her four brilliant break dancers giving a great performance and they were followed by gorgeous 11 year old Lily Jewel who sang so beautifully – a definite star in the making! Next were our Honorary Life Members, the wonderful Bournemouth Carnival Band, who gave an exceptional performance getting the children involved and we thank them for coming all the way from Bournemouth in such severe weather. The boys and girls in Act Now Entertainment were on next, singing, dancing, clapping and doing an amazing job of interacting with the children and we thank them for coming. Next on were our fantastic Cheeky Girls and this was their 10th year of performing at our parties. After their superb act, the Fund’s Hon. Chair came on stage and presented them with a Certificate making them Honorary life Members of the Fund and we thank them so much for travelling all the way from Rye in Sussex to be with us. Next on stage were The Crystal Girls cheerleaders, pom-poms and all and what a great squad they were. They performed a brilliant routine and I was left in stitches when one young lad came up to me and said “they’re well fit” – they do start young these days !! I did agree with him though, but don’t tell the wife !
In the run up to Xmas, several Nandos Restaurants based in the West End had made collections for us and £500 was officially presented to the Fund’s Hon. Chair by Alan, Manager of the Covent Garden branch, accompanied by two of their Nandos’ Cockerels and we are deeply grateful for their donation. The Fund’s Honorary Member, Norman Tuchband FCA then accepted a cheque for £3,000 on behalf of the LTFUC from our Party Sponsors, Tony Ferguson Weight Management, who had kindly made this donation towards the event. Unfortunately their representatives could not be with us due to the bad weather, but the Committee extend our grateful thanks to them for their support.
The Grosvenor House Floor Manager, Mr Miho Barbarich, then came on stage and presented a huge ’85th Anniversary’ Cake to our Hon. Chair, which was a wonderful gesture for which we are deeply grateful. The Committee then joined Sue on stage followed by their wives and partners and as Sue cut the cake, the whole of the Great Room started singing and clapping to the sounds of Cliff Richards ‘Congratulations’, what a great atmosphere! The cake was then distributed to each child in the room, just brilliant !
It was now time for the character parade, followed by the children rushing out to join their favourite characters for the mid disco. The next act to appear was Lucy and her dog Indie, who were winners of ITV’s ‘That Dog Can Dance’, but unfortunately Indie refused to perform and kept running off the stage to the great amusement of the children who obviously thought it was part of the act! We thank Lucy so much for making the long journey to join us and hopefully Indie was still given his bone! Lovely Shniah Williams, winner of ‘Hertfordshire’s Got Talent’ was next to sing and she gave a great performance, followed by Miller, who performed a brilliant street dance. Our fantastic Elvis Shmelvis then took to the stage and he was followed by the talented Cara and her Hula Hoop, with the show finishing with a great magic and dance act called M.A.D. The Committee can’t emphasise enough how grateful we are to all these wonderful acts for turning up in such atrocious weather to put so much fun into these children’s lives.
The last treat in store for the children was going through our famous brilliant illuminated toy grotto, with each child coming out piled high with chocolates, fruit and lots of presents to take home. Grateful thanks must go to the following for their enormous help with the grotto; Lovely Ann, Linda and the crew at M & S for their toy sponsorship and the donated goodies; Darren & Kirk at D+P Essex for their generous toy sponsorship and prompt delivery; Geoffrey Reisel of Radio Taxis Group for his £300 toy sponsorship; Beryl Bloomfieldfor her donation of lovely toys and Annette at Jelly Cats. We also thank Eva at the Heathrow Canteen for providing the children’s fruit and Cadbury’s for the chocolates.
We thank the Lord Mayor of Westminster, Councillor Angela Harvey, for giving up her valuable time to be with us and give a very special thank you to ‘Call Sign’ and Dial-a-Cab for sponsoring the rink catering and thank all the ladies on the rink who worked so hard to feed everyone. Special thanks also go to the Westminster and Redbridge Police Cadets for all their help in keeping the children safe and for doing such a wonderful job. We also give special thanks to Denise Mountstephens and her wonderful team of face painters who travelled such great distances in the appalling weather to be with us, working tirelessly all afternoon. We are also deeply grateful to Lord Geoffrey for the balloons, to Clown Jolly Jack, to Danny Green (Portrait Artist) and the table magicians. We also thank the companies who donated the costume characters and Maurice Gilliam who came all the way from the Isle of Wight to video the party.
Finally, special thanks also go to the following and as there are so many wonderful people to mention, we sincerely apologise to anyone we may have omitted in error:
The Grosvenor House (a JW Marriott Hotel) Management & Staff; their Event Manager Mansi Patel; Floor Manager Miho Barbarich and technical staff Ben Behan and Paul Stoker; Sgt. Jack Warner of the City of London Police; Soho Fire Station; 201 Harrow Cadet Attachment; Matt Smith of the Mayfair & St James Safer Neighbourhoods Team; Mark Cohen (Starman) Trance Art; Sarah Rolls – Genie Events; Terry Lewsey, Adam and Tim of Lighting Design Ltd; Melanie Rands, John Lewis (Window dressing dept); Martyn Cohen; Kent Balloons for the helium; Radiocoms Systems Ltd; St John’s Ambulance; Alan Green of Dial-a-Cab’s ‘Call Sign’ (Photos); Mark Cooper (Photos); Entertainment One UK (Peppa Pig); Cartoon Network (Turners) Ben 10 Alien; Freemantle Media (Monsuno); Mind Candy (Moshi Monsters); UK Garrison Costuming Group; Crest of London; Wenzel’s the Bakers; Furry Tail Folk;
The Hon. President, Hon. Chair and Committee are deeply grateful to everyone who helped us in any way to put on this brilliant and incredible party, especially the wonderful people who braved the icy conditions to join us. The children had an afternoon they will cherish forever and we are indebted to everyone, be it entertainer, donor or helper.
Congratulations must go to the Fund’s hard working Trustees who this year are celebrating the LTFUC’s 85th anniversary and we must not forget all the wives and partners of the committee members, who we thank for their total help and support. Unfortunately our Hon. President, Bill Tyzack, BEM and his wife Grace could not be with us at the party, but we would like to congratulate Bill on his 85th birthday this year and thank him and Grace for their total commitment to the charity over very many years.
Many exciting events are being planned during 2013 to celebrate our 85th anniversary, so keep checking our website.
‘NONE WALKS SO TALL AS HE WHO STOOPS TO HELP A CHILD’
RAYMOND LEVY
(Press Officer/Entertainment)