Annual Ball 2010

The year of the World Cup dawned, and in support of this event the theme for the 2010 ball was: “A Black & White Ball”, which was held at the Westin Grand Cape Town Arabella Quays, on Saturday, the 15th May. Each table was allocated a country taking part in the World Cup, and the guests could either dress in the country’s colours or traditional dress, soccer attire or in black & white. This resulted in a very colourful display and added a touch of fun to the event! Mike Campbell’s Big Band provided the music. The guests were ushered into the Banqueting hall by four of the “Twenty Tenors” who performed such numbers as Shosholoza and Nessum Dorma, amongst others. This created a wonderful atmosphere and the proceedings began.

 
This year our guest speaker was Braam Malherbe, extreme adventurer, who ran the full length of the Great Wall of China with fellow adventurer David Grier. Other than relaying his experiences of how they survived and accomplished this amazing feat, he delivered a very clear and powerful message about the changing nature of the world and the need for everyone to look after our Earth in order for our children to be able to enjoy it in the future!

Our major beneficiary for the 2010 ball was The Goedgedacht Farm in Riebeeksrivier Valley, and a second beneficiary was Operation Smile, South Africa. The auction raised R315,370 for which we can again thank Jonathan Schmiedt of Claremont Auctioneers, who has become an institution at our annual balls, and whose services we greatly appreciate. The money raised was used to purchase a much-needed tractor for the Goedgedacht Farm and paid for surgery for a number of children with facial deformities. Some of the money was also used to support our ongoing project, KiDS, and our bursary student at UWC.