Speech ...

Taken by The Fabulous Ian Royce

So Saturday came about pretty quickly and everything was quickly being ticked off the to do list, everything that is except the speech!  This is the latest I've ever left it and the most nervous I've felt, there would be 515 people in that room and I had to do my best to articulate what I wanted to say without sending people to sleep or choking myself up so much I couldn't speak.

Phew the nerves were bad and the clock was ticking but spending time with the genius that is Ian Royce, our host, before everyone came in eased them a little and he made me laugh a lot, I'd happily spend a whole day in his company just people watching.

So here it is the speech I made on Saturday at Alexander's Charity Ball 2014 

Wow! How amazing to see so many of you here for our fourth Alexander's Charity Ball.

New Location which looks stunning, New Charity Name (do we like?) and a New Logo but all for the same fabulous cause as before, the reason hasn't changed.

There are so many people I need to Thank for tonight so here goes...

Thank You to Sam and The Glamourpuss Weddings Team the room looks beautiful.  515 Chair covers and Bows plus 600 balloons is no mean feat I promise no balloons next time,  I'll run all bright ideas past you !!!!

Kieron and The Giant Event Management Team.  Kieron asked me not to say anything about him in my speech but how could I not? I've never been as calm in the lead up to an event and it's Thanks to you as I know things are in safe hands this year.  I think I've spoken to you more this week than I have my own husband.

To all our helpers yesterday and today Thank You and a special Thanks goes to Hayley, Phil and Steph for all their help every year my Big Ball Crew.  Special Thanks to Claire and Amy for their hard work with the raffle this year that was a massive job for me previously I know it's not easy to do, I'm glad I didn't have to do it!

Much of what we've achieved tonight isn't possible without sponsorship, we have a few in attendance tonight.  A huge Thanks for your generosity and you can find another Thanks in the brochure.

Tonight the CEO from The Lullaby Trust has joined us and it's great to see Francine here so she can see in person how brilliant tonight is and how generous you all are.

I can't forget my boys and Ian Thank You always for your support.

Finally a Thank You to you for coming, buying tickets and making the effort to get here,sometimes against all the odds as the weather has not been on our side this year.

Seven years ago I was planning my son's funeral, something a world away from tonight and something no family should ever ever have to do.
There are no words to describe the pain of losing a child and the devastating effect it has on a family. Tonight is about raising as much as we can to help those families who find themselves in the same sad position we did 7 years ago and with the ongoing hope that one day we can stop SIDS in it's tracks.

Thank You and Have an Amazing Night

Well that's what I wrote and intended to say, much of it I added too and some I changed as I was saying it but that's the general gist of things.  It's not easy to stand up in a room full of people ready to party and remind them why they are there, especially when that reason makes your own heart ache on a daily basis.  

Shamefully I missed out a public Thank You to Ian Royce who donated his time for nothing to be with us on Saturday and who was brilliant as a host, my cheeks hurt from laughing so much.  Ian is a genuinely brilliant, funny and kind person, he surprised us with a very generous addition to our auction which boosted our total to amazing proportions.  I've said Thank You numerous times but it doesn't really convey how I feel Ian x

I shall blog about the evening itself this week but I don't need to say how fabulous our total is at £27,203 this will change a little as there is still a bit to come through but I am speechless and there are no words to describe how that makes me feel. 

A Huge Thanks to everyone who contributed to our night no matter how small you think it was look what you helped us achieve 

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