“I believe very strongly that it must be in a company's interest to invest in local communities because business is affected by so many social factors: crime, vandalism,antisocial behaviour, education, transport, environment”

Henry Bellingham,
MP, Shadow Minister for Economic Affairs

Croydon 100 Challenge kicked off to a good start this year, when 7 teams from various companies started their quest to raise the most money in 6 weeks! Those teams involved who battled against each other over the 6 week period included the Croydon Guardian, DMC Business Machines, Lexis Nexis with 2 teams, Mott Mac

Donald with 2 teams and the Pension Protection Fund with one team. There have been some excellent ideas for fundraising during the 6 weeks and here is a selection below. DMC employees, friends and partners participated in a charity fundraising event at the Indus restaurant in Banstead on Monday 6th July 2009. All the guests enjoyed the evening, an all-you-can-eat curry night courtesy of the Indus restaurant and its owner Mr Shah and a raffle was held in which the star prize was a 32inch LCD TV and the event raised over £2000!Lexis Nexis ‘Finance Finest’ held a dress down day at work costing £1 per person. The C100C Team had to wear ‘funky’ t-shirts and set up a voting system for staff to nominate the person they thought was the best dressed to win a prize! The other Lexis Nexis team called LN Ladies put on a quiz and auction night at the Glamorgan pub in Croydon, and held an email bingo game, plus two very successful cake sales. PPF held a weekly bonus ball & a charity football match plus a finale event of an Auction of Promises. Mott MacDonald Team B raised £500 from holding a football tournament and have also had a raffle and a Quiz Night at Tiger Tiger, loved by all Mott MacDonald staff ! Finally, Mott MacDonald team

The Wild Bores, sold bacon butties one Friday morning outside their building and raised £250 (kindly donated by Fatboys Ltd) and raised thousands of pounds from a charity abseil outside their building. This made them the winners of the competition, on a staggering £7,554 and it was a marvellous effort on the part of the team ! The competition raised over £16,000 and we are extremely appreciative of everyone’s efforts. The winning prize was a meal for all 6 of them at Albert’s Table in Croydon and all the other teams received a bottle of champagne in view of their fantastic efforts during the competition.

THE WINNERS BOARD
Newsquest £300
MottMac Team B £800
LexisNexis Finance Finest £1,082
LexisNexis Ladies £1,283
PPF £1,524
DMC Business Machines £3,600
Mott Mac Wild Bores £7,554
TOTAL RAISED £16,143

Thursday 16th July saw the BRIT School put on FESTIVA, a concert performed by their students at Fairfield Halls in aid of Croydon Commitment Trust.

The evening saw a combined show by the musical theatre students and those from the music department. The concert was a fabulous mixture of music, dance and song from the students and included classic pieces from the musical Barnum as well as Mozart melodies (pictured) all the way through to a series of 1990s hits penned by Madonna, Oasis and Santana (pictured). The songs performed weren’t all number one hits but there was something for everyone’s taste and there were plenty of toes being tapped in appreciation ! Over 400 people turned out to watch the show, a good result in these recession-led times.

It was a stunning performance by the students and showcased the wonderful talent nurtured by the School and the teachers, and one that Croydon should be immensely proud of. We are extremely pleased the BRIT School agreed to perform the concert and we thank Nick Williams, the staff and all the students who took part on the night. We hope this becomes an annual charity event at the Fairfield.

19th May played host to the highlight of Croydon's charity calendar, when over 600 people descended on Crystal Palace FC to enjoy a charity ball in a fabulous marquee on the pitch, in aid of Croydon Commitment Grass Roots Trust and Sparks, the children's medical research charity. The ball raised a fantastic £35,000 and this was shared between the two charities and we would like to extend our thanks to all the sponsors of the event: Barclays, Avanta, Mondial Assistance and DMC Business Machines for their generosity on the evening.

Committed '10 at The Comedy Store,
Leicester Square, London W1
on February 1st 2010
Further details to follow

The Venetian Masked Ball on 31st January 2008 was a charity fundraiser organised by Croydon Commitment in the sumptuous surroundings of the Great Hall at Addington Palace.

For more information and to view some pictures of the event please CLICK HERE.

Croydon Commitment is a registered Charity. Registration number: 1122878.