A ball held last weekend, which was attended by two Caribbean
High Commissioners, has raised over £1400 for The Prostate Cancer
Charity.
The annual event, which was organised by Friends of the
Caribbean, took place at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel on Saturday
16th July, included musical entertainment from Panache steel band,
saxophonist Anna Brooks and international reggae start Peter
Hunningale, as well as a three course Caribbean meal for the 320
people who attended.
The guests of honour for the evening were the Jamaican High
Commissioner, HE Anthony S Johnson, Saint Lucian High Commissioner,
HE Eldridge Stephens OBE, the Patron of Friends of the Caribbean,
and the Deputy Mayor of Milton Keynes Cllr Catriona
Moris.
Owen Sharp, Chief Executive at The Prostate Cancer Charity and
Mr Iqbal Anjum, a consultant urologist at Milton Keynes NHS Trust
Hospital also attended the event. Mr Anjum gave an
after-dinner speech about his work in the field of prostate cancer
to raise awareness of the disease.
Friends of the Caribbean, who organise a fundraising ball
annually, chose to support The Prostate Cancer Charity this year
after the organisation's Chairman, Ally Clarke, was diagnosed with
prostate cancer in January 2010. He has been receiving treatment
since then, and has just completed a course of radiotherapy to
treat the disease.
Speaking about the ball, Ally Clarke said: "this is a wonderful
turn out and I am really pleased. We really need to raise awareness
of Prostate Cancer in the Caribbean community and I hope tonight's
event goes some way towards doing just that"
Owen Sharp, Chief Executive at The Prostate Cancer Charity, who
also addressed guests at the event, added: "We are very grateful to
Ally and Friends of the Caribbean for organising such a fabulous
event to raise funds for the Charity. I, like everyone else there,
had a brilliant time and were thoroughly entertained by the good
music and great food. It was also fantastic to get the message out
there about prostate cancer. I would like to thank everyone who
supported the event and help made it such a success."