Amy Winehouse Foundation Ball 2014
“I have woken up feeling inspired” Alexandra Burke
“Loved the stunning performances from Amy’s Yard” Graham Norton
“An amazing evening for a truly inspirational foundation” Paul Sculfor
These are just some of the many comments guests have made after attending the Amy Winehouse Foundation’s 3rd annual ball that took place last week at The Landmark Hotel, and I 100% agree with them! There was a great turn out with over 400 supporters who gathered to pay tribute to Amy’s astonishing life and to celebrate the fantastic work that the Foundation has achieved.
Mitch and Janis Winehouse opened the evening by thanking everyone who has supported and continues to support the Foundation, the night was hosted by BBC London’s Vanessa Feltz who did a fantastic job and spoke very passionately about Amy and the work beingdone in her memory.
The atmosphere throughout the evening was delightful with a lovely dinner and wonderful performances from talented musicians such as Jermaine Jackman and Mitch Winehouse himself! There were also performances from Amy’s Yard, which I am a part of; we were given the amazing opportunity to share the music we have created down to the help of the Foundation.
Despite us all being incredibly nervous, we managed to successfully perform in front of hundreds of people. The biggest highlight for me was to receive such encouraging feedback which felt very special. It is certainly an achievement we can be extremely proud of and I’m still buzzing from the excitement of the experience!
George from the Resilience Programme gave an engaging speech on the night and spoke about how the Foundation has helped him to share his personal experience in schools to help raise awareness of the effects of drug and alcohol misuse.
During the night there was a silent auction as well as a live auction hosted by one of the Foundations Patron’s Jon Snow where people were given the opportunity to bid for lots including a steel portrait of Amy and an Eastenders tour which was personally auctioned off by Barbra Windsor another patron of AWF. This gave a chance for guests to donate money in order to help keep the Foundation going and to help the charity grow.
The Hard work and effort the Amy Winehouse Foundation has put into organising the ball has certainly paid off!
It was such a pleasure to be a part of the evening, I just hope the work will continue and other young people out there will be able to say the same thing next year.
Thank you to all of you who have donated because the Foundation has undoubtedly changed things for myself, and many others and there are so many more young people who could benefit.
I had an incredible evening and I definitely won’t be forgetting this exciting event.
Shakira Alleyne
