Trade raises over $90,000 for charity

Print Article E-Mail Article

The industry again showed its generosity at the Raven Fox Charleston Follies Ball last week

The travel-retail industry has once again proved its great generosity by raising well over $90,000 combined for charities Orbis and The Freddie McGuire Trust. The funds were raised at a glittering Raven Fox Ball at London's Sheraton Park Lane Hotel last Friday and in advance donations before the event.

Sight-saving charity Orbis is the main beneficiary of the event, which will support Orbis' flying eye hospitals and train doctors to perform sight-saving operations in developing countries. A special session during the evening's auction raised £4,000 ($7,400) for The Freddie McGuire Trust, which supports the funding of emergency ambulance units for children.

The event, themed the Charleston Follies Ball, attracted over 220 guests from around the world. The big advance donations included a fabulous $25,000 from Dubai Duty Free while L'Oréal's travel-retail division donated Eu10,000 ($12,500). On the night, companies including BAA, World Duty Free, Dubai Duty Free, Alpha Airports Group, Scorpio Distributors and Premier Portfolio helped boost the auction proceeds, while former Alpha Retail managing director Hilary Lewis performed sterling work in her role as auctioneer. The appearance of well-known chef Jean-Christophe Novelli, who auctioned his services for a day for £6,000 ($11,000), provided an added attraction.

Raven Fox thanks everybody who contributed to a wonderful night. A full report on the evening will appear in the April 1 issue of DFNI.