The Variety International Awards Banquet
Written by James Gadsby-Peet 7th May 2009
The highlight of the International Convention is always the Awards Banquet and this year was no exception. Held in the Guildhall in the City of London the evening featured stunning performances, A-list celebrities, Royalty and the finest philanthropists the world has to offer. In attendance amongst many others were Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Gloria Hunniford, Bruce Forsyth and Roger Daltrey. Entertainment was provided by Opera sensation Hayley Westenra, Award Winning Robert Emery the London Banqueting Ensemble and the Wycombe Orpheus Male Voice Choir.
The Awards themselves were compered by long time friend of Variety Gloria Hunniford. Gloria is one of Britain's best loved and most well known radio TV presenters. Gloria's career has spanned four decades and just about every media channel. Gloria was the first woman to have her own daily radio show on BBC and has recently appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and her own set of health and excercise videos. She has been a long standing and very active supporter of Variety.
The first award to be presented was the Sir James Carreras Award to Dr Adrian Whiteson OBE. The Sir James Carreras Award was established in 1986 and funded by Jarvis Astaire OBE, to recognise those physicians whose dedication and skill in the field of paediatrics is exceptional. With the award also comes a $10,000 prize for charitable use. Dr Adrian Whiteson OBE set up Teenage Cancer Trust in 1994 with his wife Myrna. The charity is dedicated to improving the lives of young adults with cancer in the UK by addressing the medical, educational, social and psychological needs of not just the young adults affected by the disease, but their parents, siblings and friends too.
The Variety International Special Award was this year given to Roger Daltrey CBE. The Award was given in recognition of his work for a number of charities and the millions of pounds he has raised for a variety of fantastic causes. Roger is a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust and has raised millions of pounds for them by performing with a whole host of stars in aid of the charity. The band which he plays in with Richard Desmond has alone raised almost £15 million.
The Variety International Humanitarian Award was given to 'Mercy Ships' founders Don and Deyon Stephens.Since 1978 Mercy Ships have operated a fleet of hospital vessels in developing nations, around the globe. Their mission is to bring hope and healing to the poor whilst mobilising people and resources worldwide. They have delivered services valued at around £498 million to developing nations including completing over 650,000 medical and dental procedures. Mercy Ships also pride themselves on their educational arm which has taught basic health care to more than 112,000 local people.
The final award of the evening was the Catherine Variety Sheridan Award and was presented to world renound publicist and philanthropist Richard Desmond. Richard's links with the Variety Club reach right back to one of its founding members. His godfather Dickie Pearl - of Pearl & Dean advertising - helped to start the Variety Club and Richard has been a generous sponsor and supporter for more than two decades. Since he joing Variety Club in 1985, Richard has supported many prestigious events and has been a sponsor of the Annual ShowBiz Awards since 1991. He has also helped increase awareness to the work of The Variety Club and generate funding by giving the charity extensive coverage in his magazines and newspapers.
His commitment and dedication to Variety Club reaches far beyond the shores the UK to support our international events and we must extend our sincere thanks to Richard for his generous and significant sponsorship of the Variety International Convention.
Richard is a truly dedicated philanthropist. He has also made an outstanding contribution to numerous other charities, helping change the lives of so many. His tireless commitment to raising funds and awareness for good causes led him to team up with The Who frontman Roger Daltrey to launch RD Crusaders, a charity rock group made up of musical legends. Richard takes up the drums with a star studded line up which has included Lulu, Mark Ronson and Steve Harley.
After the Awards had been dealt with the one final act of the Convention was to hand over the Variety International Presidency from Graham Mapp to Julia Morley. As chairman of the Miss World pageant Julia was greeted to the position by no less than 10 current and former Miss World Champions - the first time such a gathering has ever taken place. Graham's tenure has been a hugely succesful one and we wish Julia all the best in hers.
See the rest of the stories from the International Convention
The Variety International Awards Banquet
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