Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) broke all its own records at its sixth annual gala dinner on 11th May by raising £26.6m to "transform children's lives". This exceeds last year's impressive total of £18.5m. All core costs are covered by ARK's trustees and patrons, so all money raised will go directly to the causes supported.
Around 1,000 City financiers and a host of celebrities including Jemima Khan, Bob Geldof and Liz Hurley attended the lavish dinner at the historic Marlborough House on Pall Mall. An audience with former US President Bill Clinton, a private concert by Prince and an appeal by Madonna encouraged their generosity. Deputy Chairman of Sotheby's UK Lord Dalmeny ran an auction, which included lots such as dinner with ex-Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, and a day on the set of the new Bond film with Daniel Craig. A safari in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya fetched £480,000.
ARK also used the occasion to announce the launch of the Clinton-ARK Initiative for Mozambique through a strategic partnership with the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI). The partnership will support the delivery of rapid and high-quality care and treatment for HIV/AIDS in Mozambique.
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