Sell-out charity fundraising lunch supported by Sir Michael Parkinson raises £33,000

A sell out charity lunch and auction supported by chat show icon Sir Michael Parkinson has raised an incredible £33,000 for Cornwall Air Ambulance.

The event, organised by Cornwall resident John Casson and held to celebrate the air ambulance’s 30th anniversary, was held at the lovely boutique The Idle Rocks hotel in St Mawes on Wednesday 14 June 2017.

“I needed a celebrity speaker to attract interest in the event and Cornwall Air Ambulance,” said John, who turned to his friend, the legendary chat show host and journalist Sir Michael Parkinson, who lives in Bray.

Within a few hours Sir Michael enthusiastically accepted John’s invitation – John was thrilled!

“As you can imagine, having the popular Sir Michael attend attracted a lot of interest, and there was a stampede for tickets,” said John.

“It is very kind and very typical of Sir Michael to come down in his own time and help me out when he is so busy. He is a good friend.”

This year Sir Michael – who during his career interviewed more than 2,000 guests on his chat show – is touring the UK with his show An Evening with Sir Michael Parkinson.

This sell-out event of sixty guests were treated to a champagne reception followed by a three-course lunch prepared by the talented The Idle Rocks chef, Guy Owen. During the lunch there was an auction of exciting ‘money cannot buy’ items.

During the lunch Sir Michael – who was joined by his wife the journalist and television presenter Lady Mary Parkinson – gave a fascinating talk about his career and then took questions from the guests.

James Oxley, Communications and Marketing Manager at Cornwall Air Ambulance, said: “We are incredibly grateful to John Casson and Sir Michael Parkinson for their support in what is Cornwall Air Ambulance’s 30th anniversary year. Each year the aircrew carries out more than 700 missions to those in urgent need of medical care, but as a charity we rely on donations in order to keep the air ambulance flying. The money raised from this event really will help save lives. I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in what was an outstanding event.”

Notes

• The organiser of the fundraising lunch is John Casson, who has had a career centred on policing, law enforcement and international security. John is a businessman, entrepreneur, philanthropist, passionate fundraiser and author who has many varied interests.

• For more information about John Casson:

www.johncasson.com

www.johncassonfoundation.com

Contact:

John Casson

johncasson@johncasson.com

01872 501597 or 07971 082868

• The event was held at the Idle Rocks hotel in St Mawes:

www.idlerocks.com

Contact:

Jo Di-Carlo

Head of Marketing and PR

jo@stmawes.com

01326 567629

07814 883689

• For more information about the Cornwall Air Ambulance:

• https://cornwallairambulancetrust.org/

Contact:

James Oxley
Communications and Marketing Manager
James@cornwallairambulancetrust.org
01637 889926