Great Ormond Street charity concert raises £406k

Great Ormond Street charity concert raises £406k

GREAT Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) patients and their families gathered alongside charity supporters and famous faces at the 23rd GOSH Charity Christmas Carol Concert.

Former GOSH patient and Downton Abbey star, Matt Barber, hosted an evening of carols and readings, followed by a silent auction. The event raised £406,000, which will go towards supporting children’s cancer care at GOSH.

The star-studded night of festivities took place at the renowned St Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge and welcomed actors Martin Freeman, Gwendolyn Christine, Adjoa Andoh, and Stephen Mangan and photographer Mary McCartney, all as readers.

Recently, Mary McCartney generously donated 500 signed prints of her photograph Mother, from her latest collection, Moment of Affection, raising an incredible £75,000 towards supporting children’s cancer care at GOSH.

Festive music was provided by classical jazz singer Natalie Rushdie, alongside the choir of Thomas’s Battersea school, and 13-year-old GOSH patient Lara also treated the audience to a rendition of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’.

Liz Tait, Director of Fundraising at GOSH Charity, said: 

“The GOSH Charity Christmas Carol Concert is a highlight event in our calendar, and this year was as moving and magical as ever.

“The phenomenal £406,000 raised will go a long way to supporting children’s cancer care at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and we are extremely thankful to our supporters and celebrity ambassadors who showed such generosity on the night.”

Alongside music and readings, the congregation was moved by GOSH patients and their family members who spoke candidly about their experience of being treated at the world-famous children’s hospital.

The evening concluded with a fundraising reception at the Berkeley Hotel which featured a silent auction, a Christmas cracker raffle, and a speech from GOSH parent, Tom Reeves.

Tom moved the audience when he recalled the family’s experience in which his seven-year-old son, Otto, who was treated for a brain tumour on the hospital’s Elephant Ward.

Tom said:

“Brain surgery on anyone, let alone your then five-year-old son, is hard to get your head around. It’s not something that is meant to happen to you.

“But being at GOSH around Christmas was actually a very special time. There was so much going on, and the love and support network of staff we had around us made it feel far less strange and scary than it could have been.”

To find out how you can support GOSH Charity, please visit gosh.org.

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