A report from this year's Women of Influence Awards
Laura Campbell, managing director of Aura PR reports from this year's annual charity event, the Women of Influence Awards which supports Action for Children.
Hundreds of guests, mostly female, gathered at The Hilton, Glasgow City Centre, on Sunday, 21 March for the tenth annual Women of Influence Awards, which aims to raise vital funds for Action for Children, Scotland.
I walked into the drinks reception where I was yet again amazed at the level of noise women can make! It’s one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the social calendar in Scotland and everyone was very excited!
I bumped into Kirsty Wark, who was with her daughter Caitlin, whilst in the drinks reception and also met Ann Gloag who was looking great. She had taken two tables at the event. She’s been a long standing supporter of the WOI Awards.
“The Perfect Ten” was the theme and 10 influential Scottish women were awarded for their contribution to society, achieving significant influence through their work or their passion and their long-term impact in Scotland.
There were numerous Scottish ‘celebrities’ there too, including host Fred MacAulay, Heather Suttie, Pop Star to Opera Star’s Darius Campbell and Elaine C Smith.
Fiona White had made the charity’s video, which included Rachel McGuire, a young person who had been helped by Action for Children. She was awarded the Action for Children Scotland Community Award. Although the video was moving, there weren’t many tears, because there was such a positive ending. Rachel was presented her award on stage.
The event this year had grown to around 400 people and managed to raise a whopping £100,000 which goes to help neglected children. In total, the event has raised over £650,000.
The event, although wrongly tagged in the past, has moved on dramatically. As well as being a fabulous social and networking occasion, especially with so many high profile guests, everyone remembers why they are there and the purpose of the event. The Action for Children fundraisers were running about all day and they didn’t stop. They now have a relationship with the ‘regular’ guests/table hosts and have managed the relationships well.
The committee had managed to get everything sponsored from the wine, the PA and AV, the amazing goody bags (best known in the event circuit!) to the flowers, money-can’t-buy auction prizes and champagne. The more sponsored, the money gets given to the charity.
It’s maybe worth pointing out that I stepped down from the committee last year after 3 years of service, but Kelly Cooper Barr, Flora Martin and Marion White have all been on the committee for 10 years. I thought those names would be well known in our ‘creative’ industry!