Even a room as spectacular as the Bristol Royal Marriott’s Palm Suite, can’t have seen too many occasions as fine as our YCDT gala dinner on Thursday 10 November.
A massive thank you to all the individuals, businesses and organisations who helped us celebrate the evening in style, with particular thanks to BOM IT Solutions, Bath Life, Almeda, and Edge tax for their generous sponsorship and fantastic company.
The evening was held in memory of our development mentor Bryan Daly, whose enthusiasm for life greatly impacted both the young carer he supported and the whole charity, and it was a real honour to have so many of his family and friends there with us.
The event was an overwhelming success, with fine wine, fine dining, and fine theatre, all clearly enjoyed by close to 100 guests!
Tailored suits and exquisite dresses made the most of our red carpet reception (no, really, we had an actual red carpet), whilst a throng of paparazzi, bulbs flashing, helped add to the gravitas of the black tie event.
The paparazzi in question were the creations of the fantastically talented, Natural Theatre Company, who’s three interactive performances brought a unique flavour and welcome comic touch to an evening of celebration.
Much more significant than the razmataz however, was the opportunity to hear first hand the stories of some of the incredible young carers we support and to celebrate their innumerable successes.
The stories of Alise Ashby, Phoebe Craig, Oli Baker, Amy Riley (YCDT’s first ever young carer), and Louis Pang, helped put the enormity of the challenges faced by young carers centre stage, reminding us all why we were gathered - to help YCDT continue to positively affect the lives of young carers. As Bryan Daly’s mentee, Louis’ experiences in particular reminded us of the transformative work our development mentors do and of the enormous gap left by Bryan’s passing.
An enormous thank you must also go to the businesses and individuals who kindly donated to our raffle, with prizes including: Bristol Ensemble Chamber Orchestra tickets, signed Gloucstershire cricket & Bristol Bears shirts, raceday experiences, and even two Samsung Galaxy tablets, courtesy of event sponsors, BOM, to name but a few!
Holding an event of this scale was highly rewarding and we are already looking forward to our next event, the YCDT 10th anniversary party in September 2023!!
