St Anne's Kitchen Dinner and Auction raises over £80,000

On Saturday 2 July 2011, St Anne’s held a Kitchen Dinner and Auction to raise vital funds for our new Kitchen and Dining Hall.  It was a highly enjoyable evening which we are delighted to announce raised over £80,000 for our Kitchen and Hall Appeal.

180 guests, made up of Senior Members, Fellows, staff and friends, attended the event which was opened by the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Patten of Barnes. Dinner in Hall followed a piano recital, Restraint for Handcuffed Pianist, performed by Eldon Fayers (Music, 2008) and composed by Martyn Harry, Fellow in Music. Jancis Robinson (Mathematics and Philosophy, 1968) introduced the five wines she had chosen to accompany an outstanding meal, which showcased perfectly the terrific skill and talent of our chefs and catering team, who produced four fantastic courses from the temporary kitchen.

Lord Rathcreedan, as auctioneer, and Clive Anderson, as Master of Ceremonies, oversaw an extremely entertaining live auction, which made over £30,000. The Silent Auction raised over £28,000, with the remainder of the £80,000 being raised through donations to the Appeal on the evening and tickets to the event.

Photos from the event are available on our Facebook site and Flickr.

We would like to thank everyone who attended the event, with particular gratitude to the sponsors of the event, Richard Girling (Biochemistry, 1984) and Evelina Girling; as well as Lord Patten of Barnes CH, Chancellor of the University of Oxford; Jancis Robinson; Clive Anderson; Lord Rathcreedan; and the Yapp Brothers for supplying the wine for the evening.  Thank you also to all those who donated prizes for the auctions.

Please see our Supporting St Anne’s pages for further information on our Kitchen and Hall Appeal.