What an incredible evening! Thank you so much to everyone who came and support our event either in person or buying raffle tickets online, you raised a staggering £4,144! We are blown away by your generosity and kindness!
Before we begin, we would just like to say a massive thankyou to The Ashford International Hotel, all of their events staff and bar staff. The hotel kindly donated the room to the foundation and what a incredible setting it was for our first fundraiser.
A little from the evening..
We arrived at the hotel around 1300 and started to set up the room with zero experience in running such a large event, but I think we figured it out!
We setup the demonstration LifeVac kits we have, the whole point of the evening was to raise money to supply these devices into every single Ofsted registered nursery and childminder across Kent, then beyond so it only seemed fitting to have a device on display.
Zoe arrive's at the hotel
Our LifeVac, raffle and sweet/cake stands.
Zoe releasing her inner child around a mass of balloons!
The room now starting to take shape, with team names and balloons being put onto each table.
Oliver's brother, Jake arrived to join in the mayhem and chase the balloons across the floor.
Sadly it didn't last too long until the energy levels depleated and a nap was required!!
The teams...
The start of the evening...
People starting to arrive, we were simply in awe of how full the room looked. We initially had both said we would of been happy with selling just 10 tables, but we sold a staggering 23 tables which was nothing short of phenomenal.
Our wonderful host (and Zoe's boss!) Victoria Rowley took to the stage and kicked the evening off with team introductions and then right into the quiz!
A few images throughout the night whilst the quiz was underway.
Zoe with our trustee's Michala (Right) and Abbie (Left) taking payments for the raffle, sweet cups and the amazing cakes made by Abbie who donated them to the evening.
Our trustee Inese, out and about with her new GoPro! Inese has a very special connection to us, and Oliver as she was one of the paramedics who attended the nursery on the day of the incident in September 2021.
The silent auction..
Slips were placed on each table to participate in the silent auction and we recieved a large number of completed slips at the interval. Bids ranged from £50.55 to an amazing winning bid of £270!
Congratulations to Kat Endley for being the winning bidder and scooping up two return tickets from London St. Pancras to anywhere on the Eurostar network. A massive thankyou to Eurostar for donating this fantastic prize for our silent auction, and to Caroline for organising it all on our behalf.
The raffle..
A huge thanks to all business' and individuals who donated some amazing prizes for our fundraising evening. I think you will all agree some very very nice prizes!!
A massive thank you to all our prize donors...
Flexicon Europe Limited, Eastwell Manor, Aspinall Foundation, Polar Helicopters, Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, Donna Shepherd, Ashford International Hotel, Chapel Down Winery Shop & Experiences, Sue Steeper, Denise & Dave Arundell, Blossom & Glow, Bella Vida Hair, Tesco Park Farm, Caroline Burch, Puddle Ducks East Kent, Bluewater Shopping Centre, Verstastylebylaura, Maidstone United, Rugby Tots and LifeVac Europe Limited.
The Quiz winners..
The winning team 'The Queens English" held a strong lead for most of the quiz, finally winning with a whopping 138 points, beating second place by a mere 2 points. Congratulations to the team who walked away with £600 in Love2shop vouchers, kindly donated by FalconUAV Solutions Limited, SGEYEUK Drone services and Tech-hose LTD.
The Quiz losers..
Winning a wooden spoon each, sadly "Onions make us sad" came in last (someone had too!) and David Arundell (Zoe's Dad) came up on their behalf to collect their prizes.
Overall scores..
The final thank you's..
Again, a huge thankyou to the Ashford International Hotel for donating their fantastic venue to us, and also a raffle prize (Comedy night tickets).
A massive thankyou to everyone who attended our event, or purchased raffle tickets, you all raised a phenomenal amount of money which will go so far to help save the lives of children going forward in a choking emergency.
A thank you to our trustees who played a vital part throughout the evening collecting and distributing question papers and collecting payments and so forth we genuinely couldn't have done it without your support. Thanks to Abbie, Inese, Michala and Nicola (and Logan!) for all your help.
And a special mention to our trustee Victoria for hosting the evening, she looked amazing and did such a wonderful, humourus and professional quiz night.
If you are able to continue to support our campaign, please donate via our gofundme page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/lifevac-for-childcare-settings
Hopefully see you all again at our next fundraising event,
A million thank yous,
Lewis & Zoe Steeper
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