Hospice Isle of Man celebrated the wrap up of its 30 years of palliative care on the Isle of Man with a fabulous Black Pearl ball held at the Best Western Palace Hotel and Casino recently.
Over 200 guests enjoyed an action-packed night of entertainment ranging from the Jersey Boys, some of whom specially flown in from the UK, from the very successful show Viva Manx Vegas. The singers consisted of Jack Divers, Joe Hillard, Damian Kneale and Lewis Kelly. The lads really got the night off to a flying start! They will also be appearing at the Dancing in the Streets show on 26th July 2014 raising funds for Hospice.
Further entertainment consisted of the soulful and truly wonderful young singer Coral Amphlett, Coral, aged 17, won the Next Big Thing earlier this year. Her version of “At Last” by Etta James, was stunningly moving with guests on their feet at the end of her performance.
Guest speaker Christine Hamilton entertained everyone with her tales of British Battleaxes regaling the audience with her very wicked sense of humour and serious ribbing of her poor husband Neil. Both Christine and Neil were terrific guests and definitely added to Hospice’s 30s theme dinner.
The event formed part of a series of events held during the last 12 months marking 30 years of specialist palliative care on the Isle of Man. Funds are still being counted but it is anticipated that well over ?20,000 was raised on the night for the charity.
Hospice was very proud of the fact that Nadene Crowther MBE was present at the dinner as it was with great honour that Nadene was awarded the Tynwald Honour in July of this year. Nadene is synonymous with the charity and was very touched to receive this magnificent award evoking significant memories of dedicated staff and volunteers, generous and thoughtful supporters, patients and their families.
The event was held at the end of the UK national Hospice Care week which was themed “making every moment count”. Saturday night certainly added to that theme.
Hospice would like to thank John Morphet, Retrospect, Coral Amphlett, Steve McGowan of SMP Partners for covering the costs of bringing the Jersey Boys to the Island, Tracy Christian of Embellished Elegance for making the room so beautiful, Best Western Palace Hotel and Casino for their exceptional hard work during the day setting up and on the night itself. Hospice would further like to thank Rossborough Insurance, David Silvester of The Studio, Colby, Simon Smith of Woodsmith Bespoke Artisan Furniture, Christina Horrox, Charles Alexander Jewellery and Peter Sutton for being the compere on the evening and keeping some order on the event.
Music was provided splendidly by Retrospect, the well known local band which have been firm favourites of Hospice over the years. They definitely had everyone up dancing!
Hospice’s next event will be on Sunday 24th November 2013 with their Night Before Christmas fair between noon-5pm at the Villa Marina, Douglas.
To find out more about way of supporting your local hospice visit www.hospice.org.im, like them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/hospice.iom or follow them on Twitter.
Pictured left to right: Lady Mary Walker, Sir Miles Walker CBE (Chairman of Hospice), Margaret Simpson (Chief Executive of Hospice) Andrew Simpson, Neil Hamilton, Christine Hamilton, Venerable Brian Partington OBE (President of Hospice) and Val Partington. Pictures courtesy of David Silvester, The Studio, Colby.
Researching your Manx family history can be a very interesting and rewarding hobby. Trace your roots in the Isle of Man with our helpful of guide.
