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‘Showtime – A Cabaret Dinner with the Stars’

‘Showtime – A Cabaret Dinner with the Stars’

In 2012, almost four hundred guests attended an event at The Dorchester to celebrate the opening of the UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre.  The event, organised by a small committee and the staff of the UCL Hospitals Charitable Foundation, was a huge success and raised over £100,000 on the night through an auction, a raffle and a series of pledges for equipment for the Cancer Centre.

The event was hosted by Angela Rippon, who introduced a series of 'Stars' throughout the evening. Marvin Berglass, a first class magician, left onlookers at the champagne reception puzzled at his amazing magic tricks. Opera Up Close kicked off the cabaret entertainment, diners were then serenaded by Stephen Triffitt as 'Frank Sinatra,' who rubbed shoulders with Martyn Dias as 'Elvis.' Bruce Airhead, a street theatre entertainer, bewildered the audience with a set involving a giant green balloon! And the musical entertainment was rounded off with three formidable world-class acts, Nikki Lambourne, Woman and the Leo Green Experience Band.

The highlight of the evening was the auction, with Charlie Ross from BBC TV's 'Flog It', as the auctioneer. His energy, enthusiasm and expertise as an auctioneer along with the audience's generosity raised a huge amount for the Cancer Centre. Wonderful auction prizes such as a holiday on the West Coast of Barbados, a Town and Country Holiday in the Charleston Area, a trip on the Orient Express and Dinner for 20 at Crosby Hall all raised five figure sums.

The raffle, with generously donated prizes which included; a meal for four at 'The Clink' restaurant, Britain's first restaurant in a prison; Clive Christian's No. 1, the world's most expensive perfume; a 10 night stay in Palm Beach and a trip on the first cable car across the Thames, raised over £6,000.

Guests also pledged over £14,000 towards the purchase of blood pressure monitors, reclining chemotherapy chairs, defibrillators, centrifuge bench mounted blood machines, a cytotoxic chemotherapy incubator, ECG machines, a blood analyser and an anaesthetic machine.

It was a wonderful evening and a fitting celebration to thank all of those involved, from those who conceived the original plan for the new cancer centre to those who helped deliver it by contributing funds and creating a world class facility, which will benefit cancer patients for years to come.