The Homelessness Partnership BCP is delighted to announce that Chewton Glen Hotel & Spa will generously host a Gala Evening on Thursday 21 September – raising funds that will drive the Partnership’s mission to end homelessness in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
Chewton Glen, which raised an incredible £4,525 for the Homelessness Partnership BCP last year, is again extending its generosity by hosting the Gala Evening in its Lake Suite, which overlooks spectacular gardens and parkland on the edge of the New Forest.
The Gala comes at a perfect time, with BCP having recently been named as a flagship area for Homewards, a new programme spearheaded by HRH The Prince of Wales and The Royal Foundation. Within five years, Homewards aims to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated – and the Gala will provide a unique opportunity to champion this transformational project.
Set to be a highlight on the calendar for Dorset’s business community, the Gala Evening includes a fantastic two-course meal, along with entertainment and superb auction lots. It will be headlined by keynote speaker Josh Littlejohn MBE, one of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. By the age of 34, Josh had raised more than £22 million for charities and homelessness causes, making Debrett’s list of the 500 most influential people in the UK.
Regarded as one of the most inspirational and motivational speakers on the international circuit, Josh founded Social Bite, a social enterprise in Scotland that began as a small chain of sandwich shops. It grew to employ more than 100 people with lived experience of homelessness, giving out over 140,000 items of free food each year to people in need.
The team at Chewton Glen has donated a fantastic prize for the Gala Evening: a spa day for two guests worth more than £400, which will be raffled on the night. The resort’s award-winning spa features a luxurious pool and myriad of treatments.
Chewton Glen has also kindly donated two further star prizes, which will be auctioned on the night. The first is a midweek overnight stay at the exclusive, five-star, 18th century luxury country house hotel, which is set in 130 acres of Hampshire countryside. The prize includes dinner – where many ingredients travel less than 100 yards from Chewton Glen’s own kitchen garden – and breakfast. A further prize of one midweek lunch or afternoon tea for four guests will be auctioned at the Gala Evening.
Chewton Glen General Manager, Clive McNish, said: “We are delighted to host the Homelessness Partnership BCP’s Gala Evening at Chewton Glen in support of the fantastic work undertaken by more than 40 organisations that make up the Partnership.
“The cost-of-living crisis is placing unprecedented pressure on those in need and the entire team at Chewton Glen is committed to helping the Partnership achieve its goal of ending all forms of homelessness in the BCP area. We share the Partnership’s vision of ensuring that everyone has a safe place to live that they can call home and look forward to hosting this fundraising evening that will drive the mission forwards.”
Speaking about the launch of the Chewton Glen Gala and the selection of the BCP area for the Homewards programme, Chair of the Partnership Forum, Alistair Doxat-Purser, said: “I never expected this – not only has our area had the good news about being a trailblazer site for Prince William’s Homewards programme, but national and local high profile partners are demonstrating their commitment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with statutory, charity and local business partners to battle back against the challenge of homelessness.
“To have Josh Littlejohn coming to share his insight and inspiration is an encouragement in itself: when the challenge seems immense for individuals who are homeless and for those who work alongside them, to hear from people like Josh who have in effect said ‘we can do this’ gives us new energy – and wisdom! And to have the support of Chewton Glen again, not only in hosting the event but in donating some of the auction prizes, shows that across the board, people are playing their part in tackling this issue. Thank you to both, and to all who book tickets: together we are seeing – and we will see even more – that more people can find a place of safety, community and support away from the street: a real ‘home’.”
Tickets for the Gala Evening event cost £100 and can be booked through Eventbrite. Please click this link to reserve your place: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gala-fundraising-evening-at-the-chewton-glen-tickets-657525706087
For more information, please contact Communications@bcha.org.uk.