Celebrating 75 Years of Changing Lives

Held at the Nobu Hotel on Portman Square, the drinks reception was attended by Trustees, Chief Barkers, and friends of Variety, past and present.

Ahead of the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards that will be held in London on 28th April, the excitement kicked off early with the announcement that critically acclaimed actor and Fool Me Once star, Michelle Keegan was to be honoured with the prestigious Variety Club Silver Heart Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Television and Streaming, recognising her successful career in Television and her exceptional role in the Netflix drama. Michelle received the award at the Chairman’s Reception.

Variety also announced our partnership with the ParalympicsGB and Channel 4 on the second annual Variety Club Disability Sports Awards, which will be held in London after this year’s Paralympics on 25th November at the @sohoplace theatre in London.
We were honoured to be joined by Variety beneficiary and Young Ambassador Illias, who is taking the world of wheelchair racing by storm. He took to the stage alongside Professor Jonathan Shalit OBE, Tushar Prabhu, and Variety’s 2024 Honorary Chief Barker Michael Josephson MBE. Illias wowed guests with his story as he reflected on his journey in parasports and thanked Variety’s supporters whose generosity made his racing success possible.

Illias was born with Spina Bifida and has received both day wheelchair and racing wheelchair grants from Variety, the Children’s Charity. He will be taking part in half marathons across the country throughout 2024 and will be once again competing in the London Marathon’s mini marathon, which he hopes to win for the sixth year in a row.

To end the night, Variety unveiled plans for a new fundraising initiative to raise £15million for the Variety Children Hospital’s Ward at King’s College Hospital to help raise the hospital’s paediatrics to an international level. We are thrilled to invigorate our forty-year relationship with the children’s hospital, which sees over 70,000 children pass through its doors every year.

We would like to thank all our supporters who attended the Chairman’s Reception for helping to create an incredible celebration of our 75 years in the UK.