2009 BHF Ball

Friday 24 July 2009

In aid of The British Heart Foundation

Amount raised:  £2287

Running total to date: £18876

This was our second charity ball in aid of The British Heart Foundation and was particularly relevant to me as I had recently spent some time in hospital reading several of the excellent booklets and leaflets produced by the BHF about heart disease!

Three weeks prior to the day of our BHF event, in a total irony of timing, I had been fitted with a stent after a near heart attack.  So - this year's ball was a very quiet evening for me - but one which I was very happy to be at and support.

The funds raised from this ball were to be used towards the cost of building a new coronary care unit at Bassetlaw hospital - great idea but one I'd prefer not to visit if that's ok!

Heart disease is obviously prevalent in our family and since this happened to me in 2009 another of my cousins has had three stents fitted, another has survived a heart attack and another is in the process of being monitored for possible stenting.  All in different branches from the same side of the family and at the rate of roughly one person per year! None of us overweight, all moderate drinkers - and the smoker has now given up!  

So our family is firmly of the opinion that it is very important to try and keep healthy by moderating (not giving up all together!) all the usual things such as eating rich food, drinking and/or smoking but it is also important to keep an eye on cholesterol and blood pressure levels as heart disease is definitely the silent killer and can certainly creep up when least expected!  Lecture over...

As you can tell - this is a very personal crusade for our family - and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts (quite literally!) for your support.   

Back to business - we went for red, silver and black for our colour scheme this year.  We always like to incorporate a bit of red when it is for the BFH as it is the colour of their logo.

Julie spent ages decorating napkin rings with tiny red heart shaped beads and wire (what attention to detail!..) and then she folded black and silver grey serviettes through them in a fan shape - they looked really nice!

The table centres were hurricane shaped glass vases  which we filled with red and silver sparkly stuff (don't know what it was called - sort of gauzy material and crimped silver lametta!) and we then intertwined everything with sparkling star lights which looked really pretty glowing on the tables when the main lights were dimmed.

The table favours this year were small silver organza bags filled with love hearts and the vases stood on black circles scattered with red heart shaped confetti and silver pebble hearts - Julie loves her finishing touches!

The entrance table was decorated with balloons and candles.  We also put out information about all the raffle prizes and who had donated them - our usual long list!

Guests were given a glass of sparkling wine as they arrived and once everyone was seated our evening of meal, music and merriment began!...

The band this year were called House Party and they played their little socks off!...

... and were supported by our perennial favourite Ben with his wonderful 'Shooting Star' disco.



The raffle table was put right into the corner this year - we must have been pushed for space with so many people there!  And it looks like we had to stack everything up to get it on - or use the floor!


Ooooh - someone's getting a right daggers look from Princess Katy there!... (I think that this may be what all the men in our family call the 'Roberts' look!..)

But the raffle as usual was great with loads of prizes...

I was allowed to do a little light organising but was shouted at by Julie and made to sit down when I tried to help with other things - quite ironic really as I was probably in better health at that point with my stent than I had been for months or years previously!!

Sorting out the money and the raffle tickets was a sitting down job so I was allowed to do that.

I also managed a little light dancing - supervised of course...

So we all had a good evening...

Who are the posers in our family then?...

... and my girls accuse me of bad dancing!...

We don't seem to have taken many group pictures at this event - the photographer-in-chief Mike seems to be appearing more on the other side of the camera than he usually does - probably being another of my minders for the evening! 

This was definitely a 'happy to be alive' occasion! - and there he is again - so who took the photo?...

Helena was there once again for the presentation of the cheque...

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In November 2009 Ian organised another fund raising pop quiz in aid of Retford United FC.

This wasn't really one of our events but it was for another good local cause so worth a mention!


If you have any photos we will be happy to add them to our blog so that everyone can see them - just let us know.

And thank you for a great evening everyone!