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Fundraising

Some of the events we have done in the past….

plus marathons and cycle rides and money kindly and generously donated from individuals on the occasions of their birthdays. Since we started, Aims2Cure have raised over £500,000 for research into Multiple Sclerosis.

2000

Aims2Cure began in 1999 with a small mailing list of local contacts. Initially our fund raising consisted of film premier evenings and a Clairvoyant Night at a local theatre. In February 2000, at the Elstree Moat House Hotel, we staged a sit down 3 course dinner “Mr & Mrs” Valentine Evening for 220 guests and raised £23,000. The ingredient which made it such a huge success was the audience participation. Allowing our guests to become wholly involved in the night with their friends there to support them was a winning recipe which we have taken forward with us and this is what has made us into the successful charity we are today.

2001

In March 2001, we returned to the Elstree Moat House Hotel and held our very own “Stars in Their Eyes” night hosted by ex Heart FM DJ Pat Sharp. Having auditioned various people who replied to our mailshot, we chose 5 and using hair and make up artists transformed them into Liza Minnelli, Bobby Darin, Lulu, Robbie Williams and George Michael. Guests voted for their favourite with a triumphant Lulu taking first prize. We also held a raffle, an auction and together with proceeds from our charity brochure, we raised in the region of £28,000.

2002

In May 2002, we repeated our “Stars in Their Eyes” formula with Tom Jones, Anastacia, Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer, Elton John and All Saints competing. Pat Sharp once again hosted at The Elstree Moat House Hotel and Anastacia took the winners crown. The atmosphere was electric with our guests enjoying the food, the dancing and for some, seeing their friend or family member sing on stage. At this event we raised nearly £40,000.

2003

As a charity we had decided that it would be in our best interests to solely work on one event each year and put all our resources and efforts into making that one night as profitable as is possible. Our database was growing and there was so much demand to attend our event so it was decided to move to a larger venue in London, The London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square. In June 2003, we produced our very own “Pop Idols” night. Auditions produced 8 wannabees who sang to an audience of 500 guests. Eight became four who had to sing a second song and the audience voted for the winner. Once again, our guests went wild for more and the success was not just in the professionalism of our singers, but in the amount raised which was over £50,000. By creating the excitement and suspense of seeing someone you know up on stage, Aims2Cure can create a somewhat more unusual evening making our charity event unique.

2004

In June 2004, this time hosted by ex Eastenders star Michelle Collins we used another TV theme, this time, “Pop Stars - the Rivals” again at The London Marriott Hotel. We created a boy band and a girl band from all our auditionees. They sang 3 songs each as well as a joint opening number. Again, months of rigorous rehearsals for our Stars and hard work for the committee culminated in the perfect show. £60,000 raised and no way of knowing how we were ever going to better this event.

2005

On 11th June 2005, we produced and created our own version of “The X Factor”. This time we created two bands using 2 girls and 2 guys in each. The evening opened to rapturous applause with all 8 band members singing “Lean On Me” together with the superb harmonies of a gospel choir. The first round of songs was a light-hearted 70’s arrangement with one band singing Abba’s “Mamma Mia” and the other singing Bucks Fizz’s “Makin’ Your Mind Up”. The stage and costumes were fantastic and vocally, the months of working with a voice coach and choreographer had definitely paid off. The second round of songs were Foreigner’s “I Wanna Know What Love Is” and Joe Cocker’s “Up Where We Belong” during which the gospel choir returned to the stage to add spine-tingling harmonies. The final numbers were full-out rock songs and saw the first band sing Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” and the second band sing Meatloaf’s “Dead Ringer For Love”. These fantastic performances left no-one sitting down and the ballroom at the London Marriott really did rock. Both bands deserved to win but as always our guests voted. With only 11 votes between them the first band had the advantage. Our raffle and auction were exceptionally successful this year having had the help of professional auctioneer John Barnett, as well Michelle Collins and BBC Newsreader Dermot Murnaghan hosting. We raised a staggering £99,000 through brochure advertising, as well as from the auction, raffle, ticket sales, pledges and other donations.

2006

On 17th June 2006 we returned to The Marriott Grosvenor Square for “The X Factor 2”. Again two bands of boys and girls opened the show to an emotional “One Voice”. Round one saw a theatrical version of Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” and Mcfly’s “All About You”. This was followed by a dramatic and powerful “It’s All About You” by Kelly Clarkson and “I’m All Out Of Love” by the legendary Air Supply. The finale featured Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “River Deep Mountain High” by Tina Turner. The costumes and choreography were perfect and the atmosphere was electric. We also produced our biggest and best brochure and our auction and raffles featured wonderful prizes. We were lucky enough to have television presenters Gaby Roslin and Matt Baker to host and Coronation Street’s Sally Lindsay (barmaid Shelley) as well as OK! Magazine who covered the night. We made an amazing £75,000 on the night and all our guests had a fantastic evening.'

2007

After so many successful and amazing events, it was time now to crown the Aims2Cure “X Factor” Champion of Champions. A new venue, The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London hosted an incredible evening at the end of September. Featuring bands from 2004, 2005 and 2006, who all went head to head. Aims2Cure produced the best show to date with a truly electric and exciting atmosphere. Hosted by the wonderful Nick Hancock with Adam Partridge as auctioneer, we raised £140,000 for research into MS and for the newly established Michele Elster Foundation. We had exceeded all our expectations and even before our guests were leaving they wanted to sign up for our 2008 function! The girl band from 2004 were finally crowned the winners to rapturous and well deserved applause.
To stage an event as big as ours, it takes months of hard work and commitment by all involved. Our brochure needs filling, companies need to be approached for sponsorship, research has to be done into the production of our events and evenings and weekends are spent rehearsing and liaising with our performers, voice coaches, choreographers, make up artists, hairdressers, lighting and sound technicians to name but a few. Hours of dedication and time are given wholeheartedly. We are all extremely passionate about our charity work and what it means to fund-raise for a disease for which we have yet to find a cure. We truly believe that within our life-time we would have contributed to finding that cure... And to this we are striving.

2008

For details and photos of the 2008 Poker Tournament, please click on the Poker Tournament tab above.

Please click here for pictures and press releases relating to “The X Factor”.

 

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