Going Gaucho for £7,000

Two sixth form students from London, Charlotte Poulter and Saskia Flower have raised an incredible £7,000 for the Happy House in just one evening.

Saumu

Charlotte and Saskia

Charlotte and Saskia, students at the Harrodian School, volunteered at the Happy House last summer and Charlotte, who sponsors twin Saumu, revisited when she was holidaying in Watamu with her parents at Christmas.
Mama Sue says: " What an achievement for young people to raise the money and buy the land for the future of so many children. It's brilliant."  The project -plans are now being finalised will be launched at our charity night and third birthday party in Blackpool on March 16.
Here Charlotte reports on their fantastic fundraiser: 

'' Saskia and I held a fundraising dinner at Gaucho Restaurant (Chancery Lane)  on February 5, for 114 people.
It was open to staff, students and parents of the 6^th form at the Harrodian School. We were so happy with how well the whole evening went and everyone had a brilliant time. From  tickets (including a 3 course meal), donations, a raffle and a silent auction we raised £7,000 for the Happy House.

By the day of the event we had a waiting list of people who wanted to come but unfortunately the restaurant said they physically couldn’t squeeze any more people in!

The restaurant was buzzing once everyone arrived and the evening began with a welcome cocktail, kindly provided by my dad

From the start, the whole evening had a really lovely and enthusiastic atmosphere. Without asking, and to our delight, various friends of ours (from both years) decided to get involved and went round the tables trying to sell the prizes and make some money!

One of our friends became the model for a gold necklace we were auctioning whilst my headmaster, James Hooke, modeled a Belstaff designer jacket!

We had the whole ground floor of Gaucho, taking up most of the restaurant. On each table we had pictures of children with their stories for guests to read so they could appreciate what a vital role the Happy House plays in the children’s lives.

We had pictures of Saumu’s cheeky little face on our family table - I sponsor her and love her to pieces.
Saskia and I made a brief speech to thank everybody for their generosity and attendance and reminded them of what an incredible cause the dinner was for.
Our school has been very supportive in helping us to raise money for the Happy House and have taken great interest in everything that we have done so we would like to say thank you for that.
 We have done multiple assemblies and presentations at school too which we hope will raise more awareness, too.''
 Thank you Charlotte and Saskia for working so hard and raising so much money, and thanks also to everyone who attended, gave prizes or made donations,  and to their parents, the Harrodian headmaster, Mr Hooke, and staff for giving them encouragement and support.