Fundraising Evening 2024: Fact Sheet
Event Objective: To raise funds to support NEDAN Foundation, Kokrajhar, Bodoland, Assam, India, which is working to stop child trafficking.
Event Details: Family Fun Day, 4 pm to 10 pm on 31 August 2024, Arden Hall, Birmingham
Donations Received: £3327 (£2589, 70 individual donations received online or to the bank account, and £738 collected on the day). Many of the donations came from the Assamese diaspora WhatsApp group members. Residents overwhelmingly supported the event on the day, participating in the various fun activities.
The charity event on 31 August, Arden Hall, Birmingham, witnessed many families joyfully attend the event, some even queuing at the doors before the start. The Skittles were the day’s main attraction, with enthusiasts forming eight competitive teams quickly. The cheering, chitchat and clanging of the ball against the Skittles dominated much of the evening. The competition was friendly yet intense, making the winning team of five from Coleshill work hard for their medals! The try-your-luck Tombola game was also a favourite, with many punters visiting the stall several times to pursue their choice of the prizes presented. The Refreshment stall, which was available until the Pay bar opened, had a steady flow of people throughout, with an extra rush of activity immediately after the announcement of “samosas are available”. A half-hour session on the stage of throwing pound coins towards a Whiskey bottle (with the closest coin being the winner) attracted much attention. Also, it revealed the numerous new (some unconventional!) techniques of coin throwing to the onlookers.
A brief discussion on the chosen charity, NEDAN, was well received and provided a friendly atmosphere conducive to selling tickets for the Raffle.
The event feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, probably best summarised by 8-year-old Beth, who won the giant Teddy Bear in the Raffle and said, “This is the best party ever !” We could not agree more!
Trustees Comments:
We, the Trustees, would like to thank everyone who came to our event on 31 August 2024 and supported us with generous donations online. Final monies are still being counted, but we can donate £2000 to the NEDAN Foundation to help them with their immediate needs. This was not only our first venture after we became a Charity Commission-recognised charity in July 2023 but also our initial foray into a new way of raising funds since our previous events have been music/concert-based. We are glad to have received so much support from the local community. It encourages us to host more such functions in the future.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge the support of our better halves and the volunteers: specifically Roy Bimson (Skittles), Dhritiman Sarma (Skittles), Pranati Sarmah (Tombola), Jean Smith (Tombola), Bijaya Mishra (Tombola), Rituparna Bhattacharya(Raffle), Fiona Barkataki (Refreshments) and Partha Barbara (Music) without whose encouragement during the planning of the event and efforts on the day it would not have been possible for us to host such a successful event.
