Gambling industry raises £270,000 for Great Ormond Street
Inaugural 'Raising the Stakes' charity poker evening huge success and first of many.
The biggest names in egaming raised more than £270,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital at the inaugural Raising the Stakes charity poker dinner and auction in London at Les Ambassadeurs Club last night.
New Ladbrokes chief executive Richard Glynn chaired the event alongside Pageant Media founder Charlie Kerr and a host of other major companies from the gambling industry including PartyGaming, PKR, Microgaming, OpenBet, Evolution Gaming and Gamesys as well as celebrity Great Ormond Street supporters actress Barbara Windsor and Italian restaurateur and cookery writer Antonio Carluccio.
The initiative aims to raise an initial £500,000 for a new high dependency bay in the Hospital’s Cardiac Critical Care Unit which will provide life-saving care for young patients.
The event included a champagne reception and three-course dinner followed by an exclusive auction in the Red Room at Les Ambassadeurs Club to raise funds for the charity. Auction lots included a private cooking lesson with Antonio Carluccio which went for £14,000. This was followed by a knockout poker tournament with Warren Lush from PartyGaming crowned the winner at the end of the night.
Ladbrokes CEO and chair of Raising the Stakes Richard Glynn (pictured left), said: “This is an amazing initiative. I am personally very proud to support Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. Raising the Stakes is a gaming industry first; it typifies the attitude and approach of this industry.”
Charles Denton (pictured right), chairman of fundraising at Great Ormond Street children’s charity said: “I am thrilled that the gaming industry has come out in force to support Great Ormond Street Hospital. The new four-bed bay they are helping to fund will provide more space for nurses to carry out the 24-hour intensive care needed by young patients using the hospital’s Cardiac Critical Care Unit.”
For more information on Raising the Stakes telephone 020 7239 3074, email: raisingthestakes@gosh.org or visit: www.gosh.org/raisingthestakes