2003 - the DHO

S
. 2003
Club News
Fund Raising for the
Wengen Apartment
Huw Alban Davies
upport for the campaign to raise funds for "A Home for the D.H.O" was
remarkable. The total raised was £74,566 of which £55,080 came by direct
contributions and £19,486 from other events.
We were confident that if fund raising events were organized
members would not fail us, which says a great deal about their
feelings towards their Club. A project of this size was certainly
going to be hard work. The recipe for success was simple; round
up lively people with a track record of putting on good parties
and ask them to do something special for the Club. No one
pleaded lack of time or over commitment. Regrettably, the
situation with foot and mouth disease made it impossible to
proceed with events planned for the Midlands and North. Our
programme was extensive, and relied on the reputation of
D.H.O people for enjoying themselves.
The first event was at London's Alpine Club whose ambience
made the D.H.O feel at home. A talk on climbing Aconcagua by
Justin Wateridge of Steppes East complemented the evening.
The organisers, Rachel Maskey and Eden Davies provided a
delicious buffet supper on a chill November evening. With the
help of an auction, £2,015 was raised which got our efforts off
to an excellent start.
The high point, which attracted a capacity crowd of 130
members and guests was the Dinner and Auction of Promises at
the Imperial Hotel, Russell Square. Sarah Edmonds and her
daughter Anna Rankin took this on, applied their own magic
and everyone was on top of their form.
4,
The evening began with a champagne reception kindly
provided by Christoph Gcrtsch and Karli Fuchs which set the
right atmosphere for what was to come. The secret of a
promise auction is not to start before the bidders are
sufficiently medicated to have lost their inhibitions but to end
before the time when their bank manager will fail to recognise
their signature. As the evening went on members' generosity
was erupting spontaneously as more and more people offered
another treasure to bid for. My sincere apologies if the record
keeping did not keep up with some of these last minute
additions. The auction was kept just this side of a riot by our
very skilfull auctioneer, Didi Edmonds who coaxed bids out of
the air. Eventually we had to call a halt, or no one would have
got home. The Walduck family were marvellous hosts, an ideal
venue and excellent food and wine. The evening raised
£12,411!
Max and Eden Davies held a party at their home, The Old
Vicarage at East Dene, Sussex. Justin Wateridge presented
'Following the course of the Mekong to its source in Tibet'.
Fascinating as the lecture was, I am sure the real attraction was
Max 8c Eden's wonderful garden. A hog was roasted, the sun
shone down, everyone had a great time and the event raised a
superlative £2,025.