Variety, the Children’s Charity, hosted our 60th Annual Dinner and Ball at The Grosvenor House hotel, London, on Saturday 3rd March. The glamorous evening raised vital funds to support children and young people across the UK who are sick, disabled or disadvantaged.

The event was hosted by television presenter, Emma Forbes who looked very chic in a classic long black gown and our auction was led by star of stage and screen, as well as notable ‘King of the Jungle, Christopher Biggins. Later in the evening, Variety’s Chief Barker for 2012, Keith Andrews joined both Emma and ‘Biggins’ on stage to draw the raffle.

Thank you to both Emma and ‘Biggins’ for their hugely helpful assistance throughout the evening – we are delighted to have you as Variety supporters. The event featured a diamond of an entertainment bill, including ventriloquist Paul Zerdin and his cheeky pre-adolescent puppet, Sam, who really amused the audience with his funny show before fantastic live band, Dov Amiel got everyone on their feet to start the party.

The dancing really stepped up a gear when Lulu took to the stage to perform a selection of her hits and filled the dance floor. Lulu’s wonderful performance was followed by the cast of smash hit West End musical, ‘We Will Rock You’ who gave the crowd an exciting, high-energy performance of the award-winning show. We were incredibly grateful to the cast for taking the time to perform at our event, especially as it was their third show of the day! Thank you so much to all of the ‘We Will Rock You’ cast and their team for joining us.

Our fabulous Ambassadors, Robert Powell with his wife, Babs, alongside Donal MacIntyre and his wife, Ameera, all joined us for the evening. We were also thrilled to have a number of long-term Variety supporters with us for the evening, including the legendary Barbara Windsor, broadcaster Andrew Castle, television presented Amanda Lamb, Dancing on Ice judge and choreographer, Louie Spence, actor John Partridge and television presenter Laura Hamilton.

Other celebrity guests included ITV’s Sharon Marshall, who very kindly offered one of our fantastic auction prizes to visit the ‘This Morning’ team and chef Aldo Zilli and his wife Nikki, who we are delighted to welcome on board as Ambassadors. It was also a pleasure to have Dragon’s Den star and businessman, Duncan Bannatyne, actor Sid Owen and model Elen Rivas join us as guests for the evening.

Thank you to everyone for your generosity – we were so pleased to be able to raise a significantly large sum of money, even in the current tough economic climate, and really appreciate your support so we can to continue improving young lives across the UK.