The BNI Black Tie Charity Evening at Wigram Airbase on Saturday the 28th of September was a roaring success with near $8000 raised for Nurse Maude Hospice in Christchurch. The event had the involvement of 65 local businesses and this fantastic support along with a great turnout of about 150 people and wonderful feedback means the charity night will become an annual event.
Alison Poulter, one of the Regional Directors for BNI New Zealand in Christchurch, was overwhelmed by the local support of the BNI chapters for the event. “The night was amazing,” she says, “everyone really enjoyed the whole experience and we’ve already decided to make it a yearly event.” Alison says that along with the more than 50 auctions that party goers bid on, there was a remarkable assortment of entertainment. “At one point there were about 100 people on the dance floor taking instruction on Ceroc dancing,” she says. “It was a rare opportunity for everybody to get really dressed up and let their hair down. I think everyone appreciated that it was such a great cause with everything we raised going straight to Nurse Maude.”
The Nurse Maude Hospice provides specialist hospice palliative care and support free of charge to patients and their families across the greater Canterbury region. Thousands of hours every year go into providing professional and compassionate end of life care. Sue Bramwell, the General Manager of Marketing at Nurse Maude, says the donations raised by BNI add considerably to the organisation’s other fundraising efforts and make a significant difference to patients and their families. This support looks set to continue into the future as the BNI Black Tie Charity Evening gets added to Christchurch’s calendar of annual benefit events.
