The Heart and Soul Ball, held in aid of Cherry Lodge Cancer Care on Saturday 17th February 2024, was the third ball staged jointly by Cherry Lodge and Summer Soulstice. The Soulstice crew have been supporting Cherry Lodge for 17 years and we are immensely grateful for the £500,000+ they have raised for us during this time.
Two hundred guests, friends of Soulstice and friends of Cherry Lodge, gathered together at the Double Tree by Hilton, London Elstree to enjoy this brilliant event. Welcome drinks were followed by the chance to win one of the 76 beautifully displayed prizes in the tombola created by Annys and Kim. Thank you to Gloria and Veronica for wrapping the prizes so skilfully. All prizes were donated by local businesses and individual supporters and raised over £2,000. Thank you to everyone who donated prizes and to our sponsors.
Proceedings began with a welcome speech and thank yous from Sarah Armitage, co-chair of Cherry Lodge Cancer Care trustees since the retirement from the CL board of founder Dr Margaret Clark. This was followed by a delicious three course meal with wine sponsored by Double Tree Hilton. Everything was very efficiently served by a lovely group of waiting staff from the hotel.
Compere for the evening was comedian and MC Sion James, who also conducted the auction. Live entertainment was provided by soul singer Tisha Monique, whose slick performance had everyone dancing after her first solo. She was followed by Jamie, a regular Soulstice DJ, who led the dancing until 1am, as well as a cameo DJ appearance by Jester Groove.
This was a wonderful event, a gathering of so many local friends and supporters, which was completely sold out. We now need to wait two years for the next ball. Who gathered us altogether? Tina, CL’s fundraising events coordinator! A massive thank you to Tina and her team of volunteers.
The interim total raised by the ball is approximately £9,500. Meanwhile, note that tickets are now on sale for the 2024 Summer Soulstice festival on 15th June.
Click on the small images below to see larger, complete photographs.
