The Party for Perennial 2017, hosted by Perennial’s chairman Dougal Phillip and designer and broadcaster James Alexander-Sinclair at The Barbican Centre on January 19, raised over £32,000 for the horticulture industry’s occupational charity and gave Perennial’s annual HortAid campaign a huge kick start.
The total raised was made up of event sponsorship, ticket sales, the popular auction and raffle, donations and Perennial Partnerships secured on the night. In addition to launching fundraising activity for the year ahead, the evening was also a chance to celebrate the successes of 2016.
A total of £162,925 was raised in voluntary donations last year, the highest ever figure for the charity. A raft of Perennial Champions were announced on the night, recognising the incredible effort and dedication of some fundraisers to raising awareness and money for the only charity dedicated to helping all horticulturists in times of need.
Perennial marketing and development director Anita Bates commented: “The support and love for Perennial that was evident at the Party this year was truly humbling and hugely encouraging. We are perennially grateful for the support of people from across this great industry to help us spread the word about our unique services and enable us to reach more people with them each year.
“We know that 2016 was our most successful fundraising year ever and just hope we can keep the momentum going for 2017. It was a privilege to be able to show Party guests some of our new client films, which really communicate how donations are turned into action, and we look forward to continuing to supporting all our fundraisers, ambassadors and champions over the coming year.”
Guests at the event were shown a series of short films featuring Perennial clients talking about why they needed Perennial’s help and its positive effect on their situation. Watch Martin’s story here.
Speaking on the night about the importance of supporting Perennial and the benefit of having the opportunity to get together to celebrate successes and make plans for the year ahead, garden designer Claire Vokins, a member of the Grubby Gardeners fundraising team, said: “Perennial is our trade charity. It exists to help us when times get tough and it seems only right that we should do all we can to support its work when times are good.
“I’ve made some great friends, been helped through some rough times, and had a huge amount of fun raising money for this worthy cause. And now I have established my own business, I am finding the contacts I have made through supporting Perennial are invaluable to my growing business. It really is a win win and I’m looking forward to the next challenge!”
To find out more about how Perennial helps people from across the UK horticulture industry, visit www.perennial.org.uk or call 0800 093 8510.
