Africa Ball Success
Mercy Ships raised over £83,000 at its annual Mercy Ships Ball despite being in the midst of the biggest recession for decades.
A host of leading doctors, business leaders and heads of the medical and shipping industries joined together at the prestigious Landmark Hotel in London to celebrate the work of Mercy Ships and congratulate the selfless volunteers that give up their lives to help those less fortunate.
Don Stephens, the founder of Mercy Ships, attended for the first time and updated the guests on Mercy Ships response to the Haiti disaster which includes partnering with other charities to send medical teams to the devastated island.
Professor The Lord McColl of Dulwich CBE, Chairman of Mercy Ships UK and Emeritus Professor of Surgery at Guy’s Hospital in London, hosted the evening. He said, “The ball was a fantastic evening enjoyed by everyone. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the guests and was pleased to see so many people come along and show their support.
“The ball is a great opportunity to say thank you to all the selfless volunteers of Mercy Ships who have made the organisation so successful. Mercy Ships would simply cease to exist without the vital volunteers and all the people that support the charity. This ball was about recognising that, about saying thank you to the volunteers and about sharing with old and new friends what Mercy Ships is all about”.
A wide range of items were donated and auctioned on the night including a three day trip to Durban in South Africa donated by South African Airways and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts with the lucky winners staying at the Fairmont Zimbali Lodge in Kuzulu Natal.
Part of the entertainment on the night was a very colourful live drum band called the Drum Cafe which conducted the whole room in an energetic bongo drum session.
The evening was also an opportunity for guests to hear about the Africa Mercy’s successful 10 month outreach to Benin during 2009. During its stay, medical volunteers performed 5,000 free surgeries on board the ship, as well as over 33,000 eye treatments and 10,000 dental procedures.
The evening of the ball also marked the next voyage of the Africa Mercy, the world’s largest charity hospital ship, which will set sail in February to begin a seven month outreach to Togo, one of the poorest countries in the world and which is in desperate need of humanitarian help.
Judy Polkinhorn, Executive Director of Mercy Ships UK said: “It was a delightful and thoroughly successful evening enjoyed by all. It is very humbling to have so many people in one room together who all care and support the work of Mercy Ships and who are willing to part with their money to help improve the lives of others.
“It was a great opportunity to share with guests the successful 10 months we have had in Benin and also look forward to the ships arrival in Togo where we hope we can be just as successful helping those people less fortunate.
“Mercy Ships is deeply saddened by the recent tragedy in Haiti and we have our Assessment Team already on the ground working with our partners as well as medical equipment and volunteers on-route to help strengthen the support in Haiti”.
Anyone interested in supporting the Mercy Ships disaster relief effort is encouraged to donate here