Rays of Sunshine | rogergale

BACTA and their charitable partner, Rays of Sunshine

November 29th 2012

Scott Cain, (BACTA member Southern Region)
David Cain, (BACTA member Southern Region),
Sir Roger Gale
Jane Sharpe Rays of Sunshine CEO

BACTA and their charitable partner, Rays of Sunshine - 29th November 2012

BACTA and their charitable partner, Rays of Sunshine, who grant wishes for seriously ill children living in the UK, held a reception in the prestigious River Room, at the House of Lords on Wednesday evening, 21st November. The event was kindly sponsored by Lord Clement-Jones CBE and generously supported by PwC. The reception was very well attended by both BACTA members and a number of MPs and Lords, together with three wish families and Rays of Sunshine staff.

Cheques totaling £27,000 were presented to Rays of Sunshine - from the BACTA Midlands Region for £10,000, London & Home Counties Region for £15,000 and from Jason Frost of West of England Region for £2,000.

The Lord Speaker, Baroness D’Souza, welcomed guests and a speech followed from Derek Petrie, President of BACTA.

Derek said “Although the amusement industry is undergoing a challenging time economically, Rays of Sunshine has captured the hearts of so many of us and we look forward to finding new ways to promote the excellent work that Rays of Sunshine undertake for everyone in our communities”.

Derek said “Although the amusement industry is undergoing a challenging time economically, Rays of Sunshine has captured the hearts of so many of us and we look forward to finding new ways to promote the excellent work that Rays of Sunshine undertake for everyone in our communities”.

Jane Sharpe, CEO of Rays of Sunshine said “The first year of our three year partnership with BACTA has been highly successful. We have received over £63,000 in donations from members which has enabled us to make a difference to the lives of seriously ill children and their families across the country”.

Jimmy Thomas, Chairman of the BACTA Charitable Trust also made a brief impassioned speech extolling the virtues of BACTA’s charity partner. The evening included a performance by Hannah Phillips, one of the wish children aged 17, which was an extract from her one woman show “Hannah’s Heartbeat”. Hannah is living with a rare heart condition called Ebsteins Anomaly.

Steve Hawkins, BACTA’s Vice President, was presented with the Stuart Greenman Award for his outstanding contribution to charity. Stuart was responsible for BACTA’s in-house parliamentary and public affairs for many years and sadly died nine years ago.