3 October 2016

Elizabeth Fothergill CBE DL, The High Sheriff of Derbyshire hosts a Ceilidh which raises £30,000 for YMCA Derbyshire.

On Friday 2nd September 2016 180 guests were treated to a first class Scottish themed evening at Westgate Studios Long Eaton.

YMCA Derbyshire’s Training & Education staff, along with our catering students and young residents, prepared, cooked and served a delicious three course meal. The starter was Smoked Scottish Salmon Mousse served with Melba toast, main course was Chicken Balmoral Chicken Breast stuffed with haggis and wrapped in pancetta, accompanied by seasonal vegetables, and dessert was Cranachan sweet summer raspberries folded into cream flavoured with honey, whisky and toasted oatmeal.

The meal challenged our young catering students and residents in a way they have never experienced before. A catering team of 14 staff and 20 young students and residents arrived at the venue feeling nervous and apprehensive about the task ahead. 34 people left feeling extremely proud and delighted with the excellent meal they had produced.

The aim of the Ceilidh was to raise funds for YMCA Derbyshire’s Safe Front Door Campaign and give our young catering students and residents the opportunity to gain valuable work experience. The young people involved reported increased confidence as a result of volunteering with this event. The guests that attended stated “The meal was wonderful; I’ve not had as good meals at weddings and business dinners I’ve attended”.

After the meal an auction took place with guest auctioneer Graham Penny. The auction was well supported raising over £6,000. Special thanks go to our supporters;

  • The Mercian Regiment who provided Military Experience Days
  • Tony Walker for a Derbyshire Dales Drive
  • Toyota UK, Derbyshire County Cricket Club and Burton Albion Football Club who provided sporting hospitality days
  • Red Olive Caterers who provided a meal for twelve people
  • Longcliffe for a case of Devonshire Whiskey
  • Ark Capital for a case of signature wines
  • Chevin Golf Club for a golf day for four people
  • Richard Fothergill and Andrew Flack for their paintings
  • Sally Montague for a beauty hamper
  • The Butchers Bar and Steakhouse for a meal and cocktail masterclass
  • Amanda Solloway MP for a Monopoly Board signed by Boris Johnson
  • Hilary Disney for a 3 night cottage stay in the Yorkshire Dales

We were delighted by the support we also received from our raffle, which raised over £2,000. Prizes included signed memorabilia, tickets to events and meals out. Special thanks go to our supporters; Derby County Football Club, Derbyshire County Cricket Club, The Bowling Green, Slice of India, Sarasons Head, Le Bistrort Pierre, Cooper Parry, Firefly Photographers, The Quad, Howard Armstrong Hairdressers, Uttoxeter Racecourse and The National Adventure Forest.

Entertainment was provided throughout the evening with, The 1st Battalion PSI Mercian Band Saxophone Quartet playing during our drinks reception and meal. The CSM Dragon Coy Mercian Regiment Buglers provided a most wonderful call to dinner. Cameron Trotter pipped guests in to the event and Iain Fulton kindly pipped in the haggis. With The Last Drop Ceilidh band playing between courses and after dinner providing excellent dancing and merriment.

We are extremely grateful to our event sponsors. Special thanks go to; Bell & Co for their support of the drinks reception and Ceilidh Band, Longcliffe for supporting our programme and menu. Foundation Derbyshire, Quadralene and Manthorpe Engineering for their generous support of the event as a whole. Derbyshire Tartan’s support was extremely generous providing all the wonderful decorations for the evening.

On the evening, one of our young people, spoke passionately about the support she has received over the past two years. Asila came to YMCA Derbyshire in her late teens after a breakdown within the family home. Feeling isolated, alone and lacking in confidence Asila needed a safe place to stay. With the support and encouragement of staff, Asila started to attend social events offered to residents at our London Road Campus, these helped to raise her confidence and self-esteem, make new friends and feel she had a place within the community.  At the start of 2016 Asila attend the Derbyshire Wildlife Project on a regular basis and in May of this year became one of ten students to take part in the Toyota Working Assets programme (residents learn about the Toyota work culture and receive support with Maths and English and help to improve their CV and interview skills.) As part of this programme she is currently on a two day a week work experience programme as an Admin assistant at Toyota.  In February this year, Asila gained the confidence to move into one of YMCA Derbyshire’s of site shared accommodation flats. When Asila spoke at our Ceilidh she told our guests of her goal to gain full time employment so that one day she could purchase her own home, this was a true personal testimony of how she has grown in confidence and belief that she can achieve her life goals.

We give sincere thanks to Elizabeth Fothergill CBE DL, for choosing YMCA Derbyshire as her charity of choice for her year as The High Sheriff of Derbyshire and hosting our Ceilidh. We give thanks to Mrs Fothergill and all the guests, sponsors and donors of our recent event.  The evening was a huge success and exceeded our expectations. The money raised will go towards our Safe Front Door Campaign and will make a huge difference to the support and positive activities we can provide to the young people we support in this coming year. We are looking forward to seeing the positive impact we can have on more young people’s lives like Asila as a result of this Ceilidh.

Please see below photographs from the evening, courtesy of Frances Milburn Photography.

arrival-2  cameron-trotter-3     liz-gillian   graham-penny          boardliz-dereck-mapp          toyota-uk
dancing-8        dancing-7

 

dancing-14    dancing-23 dancing-17   daning-9

 

dancing-15  dancing-22

 

the-mercian-saxaphone-qaurtet  table-runner

 

service-3   service-6 ????????????????????????????????????
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