A DINNER WITH A DIFFERENCE AT ST JOHN’S SMITH SQUARE
The Lady R Foundation
The Lady R Foundation Dinner
The evening’s programme was presented by TV personality Angela Rippon. It featured messages of support from HRH The Prince of Wales, Sir Philip Craven, CDS General Sir David Richards, Lady Gabriella Windsor, Dame Helen Mirren, QPR Captain Ji Sung Park – and a warm personal welcome by The Dowager Viscountess Rothermere. Music was provided by The Paradisal Players (conducted by Samuel Burstin), piano soloist Ana Sinkovec and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Speakers included Major General Robin Searby and Mr John Bryant and Grace was said by The Venerable David Meara, Archdeacon of London. Guests arrived to a ceremonial welcome by members of the HAC’s Company of Pikemen and Musketeers.
The degrees of separation between fundraisers and those who benefit from their efforts are usually considerable. On Thursday 17th January an event took place that broke the mould.
The Company of Pikemen and Musketeers
Among the 300 guests who enjoyed classical music and dinner at St John’s Smith Square – hosted by The Dowager Viscountess Rothermere – were 37 singular ex-Servicemen. All were there because they had been helped through a life-changing crisis by Veterans Aid.
As the strains of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No2 in C Minor filled the restored baroque building that was destroyed by WW2 bombs, some of the people inside it paused to reflect on how their lives, too, were once in ruins.
Their presence at this event spoke volumes about both charities. The Lady R Foundation and Veterans Aid share a uniquely hands-on approach to embracing the stigmatised in society – regardless of who they are or how they got there.
Among the Veterans Aid guests were men who had been homeless – some who were once more familiar with the streets of nearby Victoria than the interior of its landmark buildings. Some had conquered alcohol or drug problems. A few had served prison sentences. One had the distinction of having once being the youngest soldier serving in Afghanistan and a media ‘celebrity’ in his own right. His moving address to those attending this dinner brought thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
The problems that brought those ex-servicemen to the door of Veterans Aid had little or nothing to do with their respective military service, but once there all were met with understanding, acceptance and warmth. These once ‘stigmatised’ men are now indistinguishable from those they dine with at this spectacular event.
ES: Lady R and Angela Rippon serve the services. See report.
