The second NPC Charity Gala was held February 26, 2022 - close to 2 years after the original date in Oct 2020. It was a great success, raising a little over $50,000 net for research conducted at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. For an event that many believed would barely break-even, we are so thrilled to have delivered on a truly engaging night that raised fantastic awareness and funds for research on NP-C treatments.
The 2022 NPC Charity Gala faced many unique challenges, right up to the last week when we excitedly included dancing back into the event and removed masks from our list of requirements.
The night kicked off early with our corporate VIPs and NPC families at an early VIP Reception overlooking the racecourse for a meet and greet. However, the gala really began when the students from the Patrick School of the Arts Academy took the stage with their fantastic performance. Thank you @melbournefollies and @patrickschoolofthearts!
Guided by our MC Michael Pope, gala attendees enjoyed a delicious 3-course meal sprinkled with loads of entertaining and genuine moments. Our founder and vice-president, Mandy Whitechurch kindly shared her journey and passion in an opening interview with Pope, before we were also introduced to our resident street artist. Damian is an incredibly talented Mural and Street artist who shared his vision with the room, allowing us to witness the completion of the NPC Custom Artwork that was later auctioned live.
We walked in the shoes of someone who has invisible symptoms thanks to the Australian premier Niemann-Pick UK's short film launch. And felt the rush as we witnessed the record-breaking sale of the Kobe Bryant signed guernsey sold at live auction.
Without losing sight of our goals, the whole room helped us to raise awareness by joining in our Bingo game, in which 30 lucky players walked away with a cooking experience voucher. And we were excited to offer the chance to win more prizes through our quiz/horse race game that had to be seen to be believed.
Yet, it wasn't until we finally announced the winners to our Heidibuild 'Yard Reno Rescue' Raffle, that our attendees could finally let their hair down. Read more about the raffle results here.
While there is always room to improve, the main feedback we had was, "I wish there was more time for dancing!"
It was an incredible effort from our events team to deliver an event that pivoted multiple times around postponements, government restrictions, attendee changes and agenda changes - and still deliver a great night. The ANPDF would like to extend a grateful thank you to Alive Events Agency for their fantastic work.
To all of our event partners, sponsors and contributors - thank you. Bringing hope and funding to our community is no mean feat, and we couldn't do it without you.
We hope each antendee enjoyed the night, and look forward to seeing you all at the next NPC Charity Gala! Don't forget to leave your feedback below.
Link to the full Events Gallery here.