Esplanade & Thompson’s Gala Raises £21,000 For Island Charities

An awards night held in the Cowes based Esplanade showroom raised a staggering £21,000 for local charities.

Money raised by The Esplanade & Thompson’s Charity Gala Dinner will be divided equally between KissyPuppy – The Sophie Rolf Trust; Isle of Wight Sports Foundation and UKSA.

The evening began with 130 guests arriving for a welcome drink and singing from Esplanade team member and previous Isle of Wight Radio Emerging Artist of the Month Phoenix Lopes.

Isle of Wight Emerging Artist: Phoenix Lopes

They were then treated to a fine 3-Course meal by Robert Thompson and his talented team.

Esplanade Group Sales Director David Weston compered the evening and introduced the charities to the stage to each give a talk to about what they do and why charitable donations make a real difference to the people they support.

There were many gifts donated by Island and offshore businesses for the raffle and auction.

Everyone was highly entertained by Auctioneer Nick Bonham who used his skills to masterfully engage the attendees to bid generously.

A total of £8,610 was raised from raffle and auction alone.

Once the meal and auction were over guests were free to enjoy the rest of the evening’s entertainment which included a disco, casino, photobooth, bar and caricature portraits.

Organiser Gemma Swain, Group Marketing Manager for Esplanade said of the gala:

"In our 6-year partnership with Robert Thompson we have always jointly covered all the costs associated with running the event, meaning that 100% raised goes directly to the charities.

"The total now raised over the 6 years is a staggering £118,470.

“On behalf of the Esplanade and Thompson’s team I would like to thank all the guests and businesses who attended and gave so generously."