Fundraising at LPFF's Gala Dinner
With a shortfall in funding for Coping Through Football 2019-2020, London Playing Fields Foundation selected the project as the beneficiary of the pledge at its Gala Dinner 2018.
Held on 15th November in the prestigious Lancaster Ballroom at The Savoy, this year’s Dinner attracted over three hundred guests who enjoyed an entertaining evening of fundraising for the charity. Hosted by LPFF Vice President Martin Bayfield and attended by fellow VPs Bob Wilson and John Hollins and President Kate Hoey, the evening emphasised the wider benefits of sport and physical activity to the lives of Londoners. Guest speaker Professor Yvonne Doyle MB, London Director of Public Health England, spoke passionately and movingly about how well managed playing fields can have major public health benefits for the communities they serve.
During the evening guests were shown a short film featuring Coping Through Football participants and their families and were invited to pledge their support to sustain the project for another year. LPFF Projects Manager Jo McKenzie said: “We are delighted to have achieved our £60,000 funding target tonight and are very grateful to our guests for their generous donations. I am so pleased that our Project Coordinator Sonia Smith and Angela Rennie Smith, parent of one of our service users, were in the room to see the incredible support for this life-changing project.”
The evening culminated in the presentation of the Made in London Award to former England striker Teddy Sheringham who grew up in Waltham Forest and played on LPFF fields as a boy .
