A night fit for heroes!

Published on 4th September 2008 in News

Guardsmen Darren Pickard and Danny Smith with RSM Andrew Johnson and Darren and Kerry Smith.

Over 200 people were out in force to show their support for the troops at the first Goole Gift Campaign's Charity Dinner Dance last Friday in a night truly fit for heroes.

The campaign managed to raise an impressive total of £3,640 at the event, held at the Vikings Hotel in Goole, and this will help enable them to purchase more items to include in the welfare boxes which they send to the brave troops serving on the front line in the war towns of Iraq and Afghanistan.

In attendance on the night were members of the British military including members of the Her Majesty's 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards who have just returned from a gruelling six-month operational tour of the Helmand Province in Afghanistan and members of the 4th Battalion the Parachute Regiment.

The campaigns patron, England Rugby star Jamie Noon also went along to show his support on the night and said he is very proud to be a patron of such a good cause.

Campaign founder Darren Smith opened the evening by saying thanks to a selection of people who have supported the campaign before introducing Regimental Sergeant Major Andrew Johnson of the Coldstream Guards and Regimental Sergeant Major Curt Vines of the Parachute Regiment who both delivered captivating speeches.

The Parachute Regiment then presented the campaign founders with a plaque to show their appreciation for the hard work they have done and continue to do.

All present military personnel who had been involved in the two campaigns happening in Iraq and Afghanistan were presented with a certificate from co-founder Kerry Smith and Patron Jamie Noon.

These included local soldiers Guardsman Danny Smith and Guardsman Darren Pickard who both served in Afghanistan earlier this year.

Mr Matt Harker, of local firm M & J Harker Construction who sponsored the event, was also presented with a signed England Rugby shirt by Jamie.

Along with a raffle and donation boxes, an auction was held by Mr Ian Screeton on the night to help raise money for the troops and people dug very deep into their pockets raising thousands of pounds.

Some of the prizes up for grabs on the auction included a signed boxing glove by the British boxing legend Sir Henry Cooper and a chance to tandum skydive with the Red Devils.

Prospective Goole MP Andrew Percy said of the night: "I think Darren and Kerry deserve a lot of credit for organising a fantastic event. It is really nice to know the people of Goole supported the event so well and so generously. I hope people will continue to support this worthy campaign."

The night was rounded off with live music from Leeds-based group Chicargo Joe & The Soul Divas who had everyone on their feet dancing.

The founders were overwhelmed by the amount of money which they raised and Darren said: "Both Kerry and I were amazed at the generosity of the people, when we counted the final figures we could not believe how much we had raised. All but £550 will go to filling welfare boxes to send out to the troops, and that £550 will be split between the following charities who have helped the campaign no end, £150 is going to the Army Benevolent Fund a charity which supports serving and ex-military personnel, £200 is going to the Airborne Forces Benevolent Fund and finally £200 is going towards the Coldstream Kids Charity which helps children come to terms with the loss of a parent serving in the forces."

Due to this year's success organisers plan to make the dinner dance an annual event.

"The night was truly a night fit for heroes and we would like to thank publicly everyone who helped with the organisation of the night and the campaign thus far and we would also like to thank everyone who attended the night and has supported the campaign. However we cannot rest on our laurels now, there are still over 15,000 troops out there in both Iraq and Afghanistan and we must keep supporting them until the very last man or woman is back from these two hostile locations. The people of Goole and Surrounding areas can be really proud of the support they have given and will continue to give to these brave men and women serving in or name, again thank you," Kerry said.

Darren added: "We cannot thank the people enough who so kindly donated funds, they can all be very proud of the fact that they have supported our troops."

The winner of the first prize in the grand raffle was Mr Karl Simpson who won a 32in HD Ready Flat Screen TV kindly donated by local businesses Salko (UK) Ltd in association with CES Electrical, the remaining winners which have yet to make a claim are numbers: 088, 1227, 001, 2768, 2756,1166,1565, 1848, 0682 ,1897, 252, 007, 1540, 135, 192, 1240. Any lucky winners can contact Darren or Kerry on 01405 704893.

Any photographs which were taken on the night by Chris Coupland of Memories Photography, will be soon be available to view on the campaigns website www.gooleheroes.btik.com and anyone who wishes to purchase a photo will be able to do so. Chris has kindly offered to donate any funds raised through this to the campaign.