(Click on the above Movie Clapperboard icon to view the Gift of Life video)
“What an amazing night.....GOOD TIMES!!!”
“Daniel, you were truly missed at the Gift of Life ball, but because of you we were able to celebrate how far the ACLT has come. There wasn't a dry eye in the house when we saw you, and when Aya Napa 2008 was played your smile filled the room.”
“Thanks to ALL who attended Gift of Life 10 and helped make it another successful night”
“We partied HARD Dan!”
"What a night!!! The Finale, Had a wicked time.....”
“Had a great time at the gift of life ball last night.”
“A night Daniel would have been proud of! Good Times :-)
“Had a great time with my ACLT family last night.”
“Loved Beverley Knight's performance at The Gift of Life Ball.....AMAZING!!!! As she sang "shoulda would coulda are the last words of a fool".....Don't wait until it's too late.”
“The event was a great success and very emotional. I’m gutted I didn’t get a chance to talk to The Duchess, but she seemed cool, really down to earth and funny.”
“The vibes of being part of the fantastic ACLT Gift of Life Ball on Saturday night. I always leave this event feeling so uplifted. Spread love, give blood people and let's help one another.”
(Click on the above Movie Clapperboard icon to view the Gift of Life video)
(To see other larger size pictures of the night please click this link to our Picture Gallery)
The above comments are a reflection of some of the many views and opinions of the attending guests at the ACLT’s 10th and last Gift of Life Fundraising Charity Ball. It truly was a momentous occasion that left everyone wishing and wanting more, including the many people still on the dance floor at 3.15am when the music being played by DJ Abrantee was finally switched off.
These following words will hopefully give you a flavour of the “Grand Finale” aka the Gift of Life Ball.
What a fantastic, amazing, uplifting and emotional night. Once again everyone thought that the previous Gift of Life events could not be bettered, but the overall unanimous consensus of opinion is that this year’s event was as good as any over the last 9 years. That is the ‘Gift of Life’ Fundraising Ball, which was another incredible roller coaster ride of fun, emotion and education.
The Reception
The fundraising event, sponsored by the National Blood Service for the 5th consecutive year, attracted over 300 guests to Altitude 360, with its breathtaking all roof top 360 degrees views over London. This year the feel, tone and impression of the whole night was one of informality but quality of the highest order. No big grand palatial affair, but a feeling of intimacy created by the incredible contours, shape and visual aspect of the venue. It all started at 6pm sharp as people arrived bang on time to be greeted by lines of courteous waiters serving Champagne on tap. The universal judgement of the incredible visual views across West London from the 29th floor was “Oh My Gosh, London looks fantastic". The bonus was that after a beautifully sunny day we all witnessed a glorious sunset over the western horizon.
The feeling of being part of a special occasion was further enhanced by the realisation that the Duchess of York had entered the room in a much understated way and was mingling and chatting with the attendees. Her very friendly demeanour made it easy for individuals and groups of people to approach her and have a detailed discussion about anything and everything. The official photographer found himself in great demand to capture as many shots of the Duchess with the guests, who made sure that they also utilised their own cameras.
One special moment was when the Duchess spent some quality time with young Dean Sheikh, who was obviously not in the best of health but communicated with those around him. Sarah, the Duchess of York spoke at length with his mother, Farah, to gain a clearer understanding of his illness.
The Keynote Address by the Duchess of York
Just before we started to delight our palate with the 5 star quality food and drinks menu, the Duchess gave us all a rousing and unscripted speech about her relationship with the ACLT and Daniel. The key point she brought to everyone’s attention and which became the unofficial theme of the night was the emphasis on being together and working as a “FAMILY” and that she was with the ACLT for the long haul journey of achieving its aims and objectives. The standing ovation that she received was fully appropriate.
What followed the Duchess and the meal were some of the most breathtaking and emotional stage performances as the happy vibe emanated throughout the room all night.
Uplifting and Breathtaking stage performances
Beverley Knight with her 2 acoustic songs (“Beautiful night” and “Shoulda woulda coulda”) literally took the roof off the 29th floor with her unbridled passion and soul, which had the attendees whooping and shouting for more. Beverley then added a 3rd song which had a very personal message of support for Beverley and Orin, the parents of the sadly departed Daniel De-Gale.
The standing ovation was prolonged and so well deserved, but then the room fell to a silent hush as the realisation that the visual and audible image of Daniel De-Gale was suddenly speaking to them loud and clear on the numerous Plasma screens. It really felt like he was physically right there as he said “Welcome to the ACLT Podcast from the Gift of Life Ball”, and “its Saturday night and we are all having a great time…”
You had to feel for our host Ms Brenda Emmanus, who had to follow his video message, and try and compose herself to introduce the classical tones of Thomas Spencer-Wortley. With his string 2 female violinist and male keyboard player he took us on an operatic journey of song that was hugely enjoyed by the attending diners, who warmly showed their appreciation.
What then followed was a totally unscripted 10-15 minutes of the best of Mr Eddie Kadi, along with his unique and hilarious haircut tribute to the ACLT. The original plan was for a very brief introduction of a video about his journey as a blood donor. What actually happened to the undiluted joy of the punters, was some of the funniest comedy seen and heard for a very long time as he took us all on his unique and hilarious journey of the trials and tribulations of the understanding and meaning of the word “BLOOD”, which included bus journeys, fear of unknown strangers, speaking strange languages or patois, Caribbean’s and Africans working together, etc.
The video that Eddie introduced showed just how easy it is to give blood and demystified the many cultural and religious taboos, which continuously stop too many Black and Ethnic Minority people stepping forward as blood and marrow donors.
Andrew Calvert of the NBS had a very hard act to follow, but he was very skilful in bringing everything back to the hard facts that not enough Black and Mixed Race people are stepping forward to donate blood. It got everyone’s attention despite the fact he was able to inform everyone just how successful the week long “Daniel De-Gale Blood Donation Week” had been in 4 UK cities. Therefore the need for getting as many people on the night signing up to the “VIP Appeal” to become regular blood donors.
Then the double MOBO award winning Saxophonist, Yolanda Brown, entertained the attendees with 2 classic songs (“The Story” and “Summertime”) including stepping into the audience and personally playing to individuals at their seats, whilst her 2 piece band glided skilfully through the jazz classics with solo and ensemble playing.
Visual tribute to Daniel De-Gale and the work of the ACLT
Each year for the last 9 years Daniel De-Gale has transfixed the Gift of Life audience with his impromptu words of inspiration and example of helping others in need. Well this time he once again delivered his message posthumously. Once again the whole room fell eerily silent as the visual video images of the ITN coverage of Daniel’s funeral played out on the Plasma screens. For many it was the 1st time that they had seen the very moving tribute, as many of his peers spoke on camera about what he meant to them and their own determination to succeed with their careers and lives.
There followed the on screen Daniel De-Gale tribute words of the singer Heather Small which proceeded to introduce a video montage (to one of her classic songs) of the life saving work of the charity originally set up because of Daniel’s plight, the ACLT.
Magic moment of 4 donors onstage
Orin Lewis then stepped up to the microphone to welcome everyone to the last Gift of Life Ball. He proceeded to highlight and thank all of the various individuals, family including Doreene Carney and the organisations involved with the key work of the ACLT. Then followed another one of those magic moments which has now become part and parcel of the Ball. Orin brought onto the stage 4 ladies (Helen Robinson, Debra Forth, Francesca Clarke and Kamisha Guthrie (Daniel’s close cousin) who individually tried to help Daniel way back at the height of his campaign in 1998, but in turn each one of them ended up becoming matching Bone Marrow donors for other patients. Well if any part of the roof was still in place after Beverley Knight’s performance, then it was surely lifted clean off its hinges by the deafening standing applause to these great ladies, who embraced and hugged each other as a collective quartet. A glorious sight to lift the heart.
1st public appreciation of Sarah Thompson and Michelle Duncan
Then the official ACLT Poet, Mark Thompson read out 2 moving and poignant poems as a tribute to Daniel, and then also positively tore up the running order by reading a touching tribute poem to Daniel’s parents. The next magic moment soon followed as Orin introduced to the audience Sarah Thompson and her matching Bone Marrow donor, Michelle Duncan. Once again great applause followed and Sarah personally and publicly thanked Michelle for her great deed. Another beautiful sight as the cameras popped.
Orin then introduced (his better half) Ms Beverley De-Gale, who gave an emotional but very educational speech about Daniel, his family and the ongoing work of the ACLT. Beverley also individually introduced to the audience the members of Daniel’s “PLAYZO” family of close friends, many who have now graduated or are now in employment as they promised Daniel.
Daniel's special video
Another magic moment happened when Beverley introduced a very special video. This musical video, put together by Oliver Greaves, highlighted the 1st and last holiday Daniel had with Oliver, Willis, Micah and his many other close friends in Aya Napa in August 2008. Everybody at Altitude 360 was now whooping and shouting with joy as we all watched Daniel, Oliver and Micah rapping over a Funky House tune as they ran around Aya Napa on their Quad Bikes and danced and had loads of fun in the sun. When Daniel started rapping on screen his “Playzo” family at the Gift of Life Ball started chanting and making loads of noise in appreciation. A magic moment as it showed everyone just how regular and fun loving a person he was in life.
Little Imogin addreses the audience
One more very special magic moment took place on the stage as Beverley introduced 7 years old Imogin Appiah and her mother, Sheila. This little girl in the white dress charmed the diners with her words of wisdom way beyond her years as she urged everyone to give blood to save a life. Imogin is only here because she finally recently had a Stem Cell Transplant after a prolonged battle against Leukaemia.
The Auction and Raffle
After Beverley, Nick Agg-Manning once again did his usual sterling effort in rousing the audience in digging into their pockets during the Auction, despite the recession. Unique African artefacts, paintings, framed pictures, tickets to the BET Awards in Hollywood, and sporting items populated the Auction and along with the Raffle helped the charity with ticket sales to collectively raise approx. £33,000 on the night.
The top prize in the Raffle (kindly donated by Sackville Travel) was a 7 day St Lucia package holiday for 2 people including flights on Virgin Atlantic. The lucky winning ticket number was 3722.
The winning ticket number for the 2nd prize was 3001.
The winning ticket number for the 3rd prize was 0752.
The winning ticket number for the 4th prize was 4541.
The winning ticket number for the 5th prize was 0739.
The winning ticket number for the 6th prize was 0948.
The final onstage performance was by the virtuoso violinist “Adaggio” whose repertoire covered all genres of the music spectrum. His skill and drive was very much appreciated by the audience as he turned popular well known songs into a tour de force of sound and artistry.
The closing speeches then preceded the introduction of DJ Abrantee who held the heaving dance floor crowd for over 2 ½ hours with his varied tunes of RnB, Funky House, Reggae, etc
The true meaning of the the Gift of Life Ball
Despite the room being populated by Royalty, Celebs and Influential people such as Tim Campbell, Jasmine Dotiwala, Martin Jay, Professor Andrew Ramroop MBE, Beverley Knight, Yolanda Brown, Eddie Kadi, etc the real stars of the night were the various patients, donors, ex patients and their families in the room. These brave but inspirational individuals were the real reason why everyone else was in attendance.
It was also a delight to see the smiles in the faces of sufferers, family members and ex-sufferers like Katrina Bayliss, Imogin Appiah, Carena Cash-Abbey, Cyril Onyejekwe, Sarah Thompson, Sandra Hinds and many others.
The guests left the event knowing that so much still needs to be done to not only raise awareness about giving blood on a regular basis, leukaemia and other related illnesses, but also to save the lives of so many other children and adults within our community here and abroad who desperately need our direct help and assistance.
So the end has come to the event that was known as the Gift of Life Fundraising Ball. It is not the end of the ACLT or the work of the charity. It just means an end to this particular and very personal event which was originally directly linked to celebrating each year of Daniel De-Gale’s transplant, courtesy of our beloved Doreene Carney. Now that 10 years have elapsed it was only right and proper to close this chapter and move forward, but always with Daniel’s legacy to the fore. In the future the ACLT will organise other Fundraising events and Balls with new themes and titles. Watch this space.
Daniel De-Gale was the surprise guest for most people who attended the Ball because he was everywhere. He was the 304th person in the room because he was on all of the multiple plasma screens, and was the main topic of discussion on many tables, etc. His aura and handsome presence enveloped the room and added to the great vibe throughout the evening. We would like to think that Daniel De-Gale would be very proud of this great night of tribute to his life and legacy which was a night of high emotion, awareness and education, sadness and tears, fun and laughter, great food and classic entertainment. What more can you ask for, and once again this great evening was produced by Orin Lewis and event managed by Ms Paschorina Mortty of “The One Event”.
(To see other larger size pictures of the night please click this link to our Picture Gallery)
