Dinner at Highclere makes history for hospital fund

Hampshire’s great and good joined forces to raise funds towards a target of £450,000 to purchase a Radiotherapy Planning CT Scanner with laser, to be housed in a new cancer centre at the hospital, in Basingstoke.
Guests drank the finest wines, provided by Anthony Barton, Johnny Goedhuis, Pommery and Coates & Seely and bought auction items donated to the event.
The evening’s top lot, a racehorse, was purchased by Jake Warren and Lady Lloyd-Webber for £36,000. Donated by Highclere Stud, the filly will be trained free of charge by racehorse trainer, Andrew Balding, in Kingsclere.
Mr Warren said: “I’m over the moon to have bought this filly, I am representing Ascot Racecourse’s young racing club The Birdcage and to have Lady Lloyd-Webber as a partner is fantastic. Together we are all so pleased to have been able to help support such a worthwhile cause.”
Lady Lloyd-Webber added: “The filly is related to some of my own racehorses so I was very interested in the lot, the fact that I’ve joined up with Jake and The Birdcage to buy her makes it all the more fun as now my children can put their names to a racehorse.”
The evening’s other notable lots included a bottle of 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc, a beach house for a week in Mustique, a bronze or portrait commission by artist Charlie Langton and a dinner for 12 in Highclere Castle.
The evening was organised by the North Hampshire Medical Fund, which raises funds to buy state of the art medical equipment that cannot be funded by the NHS.
offering patients extra treatment options and enabling the hospital to attract and keep the best consultants.
Started 30 years ago, the fund relies on such events and this single dinner has raised the largest single amount in the history of the fund.
Chairwoman of the organising committee, Lady Carolyn Warren said: “It is nights like these that bring awareness to a cause that is so close to all our hearts, I’m delighted with the amount we have raised and want to thank everyone involved for their efforts.”
The evening was sponsored by Dr Jim and Fitri Hay and the JMH Lifestyle group.