This year’s Kenya Ball took place on Saturday, October 12th at Rochestown Park Hotel and has been described by frequent attendees as “The best one yet”.
The purpose of the Kenya Ball is not only to fundraise but for us all to come together and celebrate all that we do and all who we are … to reflect on the year gone by… and to look forward to the journey ahead.
Guests were welcomed with a drinks reception and entertained by the beautiful music of Violini https://violinicork.ie/ – The violin duo made up of Aine O Halloran and Teresa Foley, who lifted the spirits in anticipation of the night ahead
We were delighted to be joined on the night by some very special guests: Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr. Kieran McCarthy, President of Midleton Chamber Stephen Belton, Michael Deriaz Chair of Friends of Kipkelion, Dr. Nick Chisholm from UCC Centre for Global Development, Mr. Jermain Rabar and Ms. Lucy Mugala representing the Kenyan Embassy in Dublin. We also had a former Olympian Racewalker as our Guest – Olive Loughnane, a 4 time Olympian and World Gold Medallist
The Ballroom was stunningly decked out with Kenyan Lasso’s (Traditional Fabric) bringing a flavour of Kenya to the room. Martin Ballantyne our CEO, welcomed everyone to the Ball and in a break with traditional speeches, introduced a panel of volunteers – Norah Butler, Rachel Daly and Shane Queenan led by the articulate Dr. Meabh Ni Bhuinneain. These volunteers have spent time working with Brighter Communities Worldwide in Kenya and have continued to support the organisation ever since then. They spoke of their experiences and we were also joined by Dr. Joyce, Richard Kirui and Alice Tuwei by video from Kenya who spoke passionately about the impact of our work there
Having listened to supporters, volunteers and staff of Brighter Communities Worldwide it was evident the extent to which our programmes in Kenya are positively impacting the lives of the people we work with
The Chair of Brighter Communities Worldwide, Colum Horgan, made a special appeal for support to strengthen this impact – he said “There are people in Kenya who need your help to grow stronger, become sustainable, create better futures for themselves and their families”. He asked for this support to come in the form of Regular Giving – people who set up regular donations to Brighter Communities Worldwide provide stability that allows us to plan for increased impact. Setting aside even €5 a week – the price of a cup of coffee – can make an enormous difference to the lives of the Communities we are working with
After the panel discussion, we all enjoyed a scrumptious 3 course meal – Guests were invited to enter the donation raffle where every table one a fabulous prize and over dessert, auctioneer Malcolm Tyrell led a riveting and fast paced Auction which raised over €4,000. At this point everyone was ready to get their dancing shoes on and boogie as the vibrant, energetic, highly entertaining band the Love Junkies took to the stage.
We would like to extend a huge thank you to all who joined us for the celebration; to our sponsors; to those who shared their own volunteer experience; and to all our special guests…. Thank you to our team of staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure the event was a huge success! Asante Sana!
“You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results.” Mahatma Ghandi
We really hope to see you all at our next Kenya Ball
