Latest News | 16 September 2021
Charity ladies lunch proves sell-out success
A sell-out ladies lunch held at Morley Hayes in aid of Children First Derby has raised thousands of pounds to help support local vulnerable children, young people, and families.
The Annual Fundraising Ladies Lunch, held earlier this month, was attended by prominent local business leaders and dignitaries, with guests of honour including H M Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire, Elizabeth Fothergill CBE, the Mayor of Derby, Councillor Robin Wood, and Children First Derby patron, Sir Stephen Moss.
The event featured guest speaker, award-winning local entrepreneur Kavita Oberoi, founder of the Oberoi Business Hub.
The charity’s fundraising team led various fundraising activities throughout the afternoon, which included a raffle and selling Christmas cards designed by local children for the charity as part of a recent Children First Derby fundraising initiative.
The event featured a cheque presentation for £1,800 following a successful application by Inchcape Toyota Derby to the Toyota Fund for a Better Tomorrow – a programme of small grants designed to help local charities, schools and community projects.
A special thank you and a bouquet of flowers was presented to Mercia Image Print ambassador, Amanda Strong, for her continued support of the charity, which saw the Derby print business provide all the printing costs for the Ladies Lunch flyers, in addition to printing and shrink wrapping the charity’s competition Christmas cards, without charge.
Irshad Baqui, chief executive of Children First Derby, said: “We were delighted to see the return of our popular Ladies Lunch, after a very challenging eighteen months.
“We rely on public funding and fundraising events such as these to operate our Mentoring and Family Support Services. And our fundraising capacity has been greatly reduced due to the effects of Covid-19.
“It’s fantastic to have our events up and running again and we were delighted to see so many of the local business community come together in support of Children First Derby.”
