Civic Ball provides boost for Mayor’s charities

THE Mayor of Warrington’s Civic Ball took place at the Village Hotel and provided a timely boost for the Mayor’s charities raising an estimated £2,000.

With austerity measures continuing to hit hard the Mayor Cllr Geoff Settle was given approval to hold an event provided that the ticket sales covered the costs of breaking even.

Cllr Settle said: “I felt it important to hold an event both to celebrate the end of the Mayoral year as well as raise money for my four charities, MacIntyre Autistic UK, John Holt Cancer Support Foundation and Bipolar UK under the theme of ‘Wellbeing of the Mind’.

“I was given permission by the Mayoral Office to go ahead provided I raised enough money through ticket sales to at least break even. This was the same approach that I followed when I organised road running events. It focuses the mind because if you don’t deliver you pick up the tab.”

The event attracted 120 people who the Mayor and Mayoress had met during the Mayoral year as well as family and friends and proved to be a great success. It started with the fantastic competition winning Lymm High School Quartet playing alongside the red carpet as guests arrived. This was followed by a fanfare from the Pheonix Pipe band trumpeters, the mayor’s speech reflecting on the Mayoral Year, a raffle that raised £953, agame of heads and tails raising approx. £100 and an auction of a specially signed print by Eddie Fuller of the 2012 Wolves Challenge Cup Win at Wembley.

The Mayor said:  “We were delighted with the raffle. The Mayoress had spent hours collecting a large array of prizes from very generous local businesses just as she had done for her Ladies evening. Our daughter gave us a donation from her place of work of £50 worth of Matalan vouchers, our local Co-Operative (Fearnhead) a Fairtrade Hamper, I got a signed book donated by Frank Bruno’s agent and donated some of my watercolour and there were many more items. The Village Hotel was very generous in offering a pair of platinum tickets for a future match as well as one night’s accommodation for two.

“The auction was only the second one I have done and it was good fun watching Gary Skentelbery of Warrington Worldwide generously bid a very competitive £125 for the signed print of an historic game.”

The evening concluded on the dance floor with guests dancing to the sounds of the award winning group from Liverpool the Deltatones and their signature tune Proud Mary.

All monies have yet to be counted but initial estimates are that the evening will have raised over two thousand pounds for the Mayor’s Charities. The Mayor is especially pleased that his promise of the first Bipolar Support Group ever in Warrington will take place on May 3 following the first planning meeting  that he organised in the Town Hall last month. The group are still looking for a permanent home because once the Mayor stands down he will have to pay the going rate for room hire.

He said “This year has taught me more than ever that charities are under an ever growing strain, especially my experiences with Dial-a-ride and the Visually Impaired People. Reduced funding, increased expenditure and competition have all taken their toll. Having the opportunity to help in this small way through fund raising and enjoying doing so at the same time,  is great way to do it. I will be a facilitator for the Warrington Bipolar Support Group – one of my tasks will be to find a place where we can meet that is town centre based and a reasonable price.”

The Mayor concluded: “One person that I didn’t thank on the night was the Mayoress she has really supported me well as we have complementary skill sets.

“She has worked so hard during the year and really embraced the work so well and enjoyed every minute, well nearly every minute. The pace does in the end catch up with you but like the Queen she keeps smiling. As those who have heard me speak will know that we have a few Royal stories to tell that will make you smile and some we can’t tell or we would be locked up in the Tower!”