Scotty’s Little Soldiers, the national charity dedicated to supporting children who have lost a parent that served in the British Armed Forces, celebrated its ninth annual ball this month raising £32,000 for its members…
Chesford Grange in Kenilworth welcomed over 300 guests including service men and women, veterans, families of Scotty’s beneficiaries, businesses and individual fundraisers for an evening which celebrated Scotty’s Little Soldiers and the work it does for bereaved Forces children.
Guests on the evening were entertained by a live performance from 2018’s Britain’s Got Talent act The D-Day Darlings, coming off the back of their successful debut album. Alongside them was The D-Day Juniors – both groups singing beautiful renditions of wartime classics.
Britain’s Got Talent winner, Magician Lance Corporal Richard Jones, who is Scotty’s Little Soldiers’ patron, drew the evening’s raffle and did magic tricks for individual groups of guests. After a delicious three course meal, award ceremony, live auction, raffle and speeches, Scotty’s Little Soldiers’ favourite band ‘The Late Shift’ took to the stage and played a host of covers well into the night.
Speaking on this year’s event, Scotty’s founder Nikki Scott said: “This year’s event was particularly poignant as it has been ten years since Lee’s death. Seeing his old comrades is always special and once again it was a fantastic evening where people travelled far and wide in order to celebrate and raise money for the charity.
“This year the ball itself raised £31,723 and after we announced the total we received a call from someone who attended the ball who wanted to donate an additional £277 to round up the total to £32,000. I’m blown away by people’s generosity and want to thank everyone who was a part of the evening – without this kind of effort we simply couldn’t provide the support that our members need.”
Nikki delivered an emotional speech which was met by a standing ovation from the room; her words covering the impact losing a loved one has and how grief continues years after their death, meaning support must be constant. Fundraising is vital to the charity and the annual ball is a celebration of individuals and businesses who work hard to ensure it can achieve its goals each year.