It was a superb night! I'm of course referring to the cheque presentation evening that was held at Dunston Excelsior last Thursday. Yours truly was the host for the evening and I must say that I was just a tad nervous at the outset. As the evening went on I really got into it. I even cracked a few one liners. Unfortunately, I decided to pick out a few audience members as the butt of my jokes! It was the nerves speaking! Honest! As you can see from the picture, I was joined by Jack on stage. My son has nerves of steel when it comes to things like that. I would have been safely tucked away in the crowd at that age!Anyway, the evening kicked off with the presentation of £1710 to the Hospice from Steven Moore. Anne Oliver was on hand to receive the cheque and say a few word of thanks.
Then, after the buffet, the Pennine Challenge Team presented their £3912 cheque. John Brettell introduced the team and once again Anne Oliver was on hand to say a few words of thanks.
It was then time for the Happy Cats to entertain and they did a superb job.
The evening continued with a thank you to my roadside support crew. I asked Jeeves and Rab C a few questions on stage. I found out the following day that Ian "The Coach" was close to throwing up on stage with nerves as he thought he was next. I let him off though!
Unfortunately, the lads at NUFC.COM couldn't be present to receive their thanks. However, it was appropriate that NUFC.COM reader and fellow Toon supporter, Barry Wilkie, was on h
and. Barry gave a very touching speech indeed and it was great to meet him and his good lady.
Then the big moment finally arrived. The overall cheque was handed over to Anne Oliver. We were £5 short of £34,000 overall so I had Jack write out a cheque for that amount. I announced several times with pride the final amount of £34,000.
Anne Oliver accompanied her thanks with a really nice engraved glass gift for myself and for the "best roadside supporter" - Jack. What a lovely way to end a super evening.
The most important thing for me, though, was not the handing over of my cheque. To be joined by so many friends and family in an evening of fundraising for St Benedict's Hospice was what made the night special for me.
By the end of the night I had become very comfortable with my new role of host. I'm looking forward to the next one in 2011!
Enjoy the pictures below from the evening.
Then, after the buffet, the Pennine Challenge Team presented their £3912 cheque. John Brettell introduced the team and once again Anne Oliver was on hand to say a few words of thanks.
It was then time for the Happy Cats to entertain and they did a superb job.
The evening continued with a thank you to my roadside support crew. I asked Jeeves and Rab C a few questions on stage. I found out the following day that Ian "The Coach" was close to throwing up on stage with nerves as he thought he was next. I let him off though!
Unfortunately, the lads at NUFC.COM couldn't be present to receive their thanks. However, it was appropriate that NUFC.COM reader and fellow Toon supporter, Barry Wilkie, was on h
and. Barry gave a very touching speech indeed and it was great to meet him and his good lady.Then the big moment finally arrived. The overall cheque was handed over to Anne Oliver. We were £5 short of £34,000 overall so I had Jack write out a cheque for that amount. I announced several times with pride the final amount of £34,000.
Anne Oliver accompanied her thanks with a really nice engraved glass gift for myself and for the "best roadside supporter" - Jack. What a lovely way to end a super evening.
The most important thing for me, though, was not the handing over of my cheque. To be joined by so many friends and family in an evening of fundraising for St Benedict's Hospice was what made the night special for me.
By the end of the night I had become very comfortable with my new role of host. I'm looking forward to the next one in 2011!
Enjoy the pictures below from the evening.
