F1-undraisers! Events With Va Va Voom

Charity fundraisers come in all shapes and sizes and we recently visited an event that raised funds for a hospital with the help of racing cars!

Get Your Event In Pole Position

Our client - Hexagon Classics - owns a classic car dealer in London, making it the ideal location for the event, which celebrated the life and achievements of Ayrton Senna, an F1 driver. We supplied 230 of our banqueting chairs with black covers for the function, which you can see photographed here. This very special auction was organised to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital, and we took some fantastic tips from the evening in regard to charity events. Take a look at our top tips if you’re thinking of arranging a similar occasion…

1. Spoil your guests

When you’re inviting visitors to your charity event, it’s important to make them feel comfortable. You can do this in a number of ways, such as by providing some tasty food/snacks and refreshments. Making this different can really create a great impression, and our customer did exactly this by serving a seated buffet featuring Asian food.

If your event features any dining, entertainment shows or sporting events then guests could also do with somewhere comfy to sit and enjoy your function. On this occasion, our client ordered banqueting chairs with black covers, which feature pads for comfort and also complemented the venue decor as well.

2. Pick a panel

Sometimes charity events include a theme. Previous events we’ve helped out with have featured to fashion shows, sleeping rough for homelessness and scores of fundraisers dressing up as Peter Pan to break the record for the most number of people dressed this way in one location. When there’s a strong theme like this, picking a panel of special guests might get more potential donors attending your event. Our recent client invited a host of people connected to the F1 industry, including Natalie Pinkham from Sky F1, Williams F1 co-founder Patrick Head, as well as former F1 drivers Martin Donnelly and David Coulthard. Also making up the panel was Manish Pandey, who wrote and produced the film Senna.

3. Dare to be different

Charity events generally have lots of aims, they might be set up to boost awareness of charitable organisations and health concerns, for example. They’re also important for raising funds, and one of the most popular ways to do this during your function is to have an auction. Making the winning prizes unique in some way could help you sell more tickets and raise more money. For this event there were some fantastic items on offer, including VIP passes to the paddock area for the British Grand Prix, F1 memorabilia, a replica Ayrton Senna Helmet and a script from the Senna movie, in addition to the chance to check out an F1 1987 Lotus 99T Senna car up close.

4. Make it personal

At the heart of every event like this is a charity and the people these organisations help. Having a personal link to the group concerned can really reveal the great work that they do. This occasion saw our client raising donations for Great Ormond Street Hospital. The chairman of the company told how his granddaughter underwent life saving treatment by the charity when she was very young. These connections highlight the brilliant care offered by the organisation and draws attention to how important fundraising is.