Release date: 19 May 2006
TRANSAID SPRING BALL RAISES £30,000
Over 300 senior figures from the road transport and logistics industry gathered for the Transaid Spring Ball last night, Thursday 18 May, in the company of HRH The Princess Royal, patron of Transaid.
The fundraiser was held in partnership with the charity’s biggest corporate supporter, Pall-Ex, at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel, in the heart of London’s West End. It saw over £30,000 raised through the sale of tickets, sponsorship opportunities and a Christies Auction which included a trip to the Ferrari factory in Italy, courtesy of Iveco, and the use of a new Jaguar XK for the weekend, donated by Jaguar and Land Rover.
During the evening guests heard from John Harvey CBE, Chairman of Transaid, guest speaker Steven Norris and Hilary Devey, Managing Director of Pall-Ex, who provided an overview of her trip to Ghana in April, where she visited a number of Transaid projects. His Excellency the High Commissioner for Ghana responded, emphasising the importance of Transaid’s work.
The highlight of the evening was HRH’s keynote speech, during which she spoke about Transaid’s recent achievements and thanked the industry for its contribution to the charity’s ongoing success. HRH also presented Mrs Devey with a bouquet of flowers in recognition of her commitment to supporting Transaid.
Chris Saunders OBE, Chief Executive of Transaid, said: “It was a fantastic evening which demonstrated how our work in Africa is a cause close to the industry’s heart. The money raised exceeded our targets and will be used to help fight poverty in the developing world by improving the way that transport is managed, with the aim of providing people with better access to healthcare, education and opportunities to make a living.
In addition to strong support from Pall-Ex, the event was jointly sponsored by Barloworld, Hyster and Lampier Insurance Brokers.
ends
Note to Editor: Transaid (www.transaid.org) is an international development agency that aims to improve people’s quality of life in the developing world by making transport more available and affordable. This is done by sharing skills and knowledge with local people in to enable them to put in place and manage efficient transport systems.
Transaid’s core work includes creating transport management systems for the public sector and assisting with the provision of professional driving qualification development and the training of driver trainers. It also assists with teaching preventive vehicle maintenance management and introducing local, low cost transport solutions including its innovative bicycle ambulance. Transaid also helps promote HIV, AIDS and road safety awareness and shares its specialist knowledge with the humanitarian aid sector
Transaid enjoys strong backing from the transport and logistics industry and the active involvement of its patron, HRH The Princess Royal.
For further press information:
Caroline Beaumont at Transaid on +44 (0)20 7387 8136
James Keeler at Garnett Keeler on +44 (0)20 8399 1184
