BiG Sports Dinner Raises Over £12,000 for Charities

The first annual BiG Sports Dinner hosted by The BiG Foundation in London's Dorchester Hotel last Wednesday was deemed a great success. In total, over £12,000 was raised for the charities involved in the evening: Restart Rugby, The Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK, The Injured Jockeys Fund, The Lord's Taverners and Meningitis Now.

Activities

Some 250 attendees took place in the evening which kicked off with a champagne welcome reception and a gourmet dinner. Two industry awards were presented: "The Sports Betting Campaign" went to Unibet and "The Best Use of Sporting Star in a Betting Campaign" went to Sportbet.com.au. Out of the £12,000 collected, some £2,000 was pledged by while ex-footballer John Barnes performed his famous World Cup rap on stage.

Beside for Barnes, the event saw a good number of athletes attending with names like Watford manager and ex Italian football legend Marco Tardelli, high jumper Dalton Grant, former Rugby player Rory Jenkins and Austin Healey who hosted the evening. The guests enjoyed a show by street illusionist Steven McGuinness, the Microgaming Avalon II Sword in the Stone competition and an auction for luxury goods.

Only The Beginning for BiG

"Sport has always had a magnetism over the nation and being able to harness its power for so many superb charities has produced some terrific results," said Richard Hogg, director of BiG, continuing to describe the reactions of attendees: "To raise funds in our first year of running the event is a magnificent achievement and I am already looking forward to the next one, as are the attendees who are already asking me to do a Christmas version, though unlikely due to the work involved!"

While a follow up in Christmas is unlikely, the second annual BiG Sports Dinner was scheduled for September 10th next year.