Gala Dinner
Saturday 19th November
The dinner at the Officers' Mess at Woolwich Barracks on the evening of November 19th was a sell out with 120 guests in attendance. It was good to have the new CO Woolwich Station (Lt Col Adam Greenfield) and the RSM (Andy Ward) with us, as well as trustees of the WGCT, some local Councillors and the Deputy Head of Mission from the Nepali Embassy. But the largest concentration of guests was made up of the Gurkha community who had been rallied by Shri Gurung. Not only did they buy tickets and contribute to the raffle but many of them enrolled with the 500 Club by transferring £500 or more to the Commonwealth & Gurkha Garden.
The audience was piped into and out of the Dining Hall by 2 pipers, one from the Black Watch and one from the Scotch Guards, with a bugler also providing a fanfare. Entertainment during the evening was provided by Nepali singers and dancers including 2 Gurkha Kukri dances, and also by Company 3, the tribute band to the Andrews Sisters who had performed for us at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in the summer. Al the acts were of a very high standard and much enjoyed.
Certificates were handed out to some of those who had been very generous donors and money is still coming in. At the end of the day we hope that we will have made about £10,000 for the garden project; a wonderful result from an enjoyable evening.
