In another memorable evening in the stadium’s Lansdown Suite, the life-changing work of the Bristol Bears Community Foundation, Bristol City Robins Foundation, Bristol Flyers Community and the Bristol Sport Foundation, was showcased with a series of emotive case studies, alongside interviews with head coaches and players from across the group.
The gala dinner was opened by Bristol Sport and clubs’ owner Steve Lansdown, CBE: “It is wonderful to see how far this event has come since we first launched Bristol Sport. This is the third year in a row that we have put our community projects front and centre of the dinner and it is a privilege to be able to highlight the tremendous work that they do in our community.
“To be able to raise such a significant amount through the generosity of our supporters, sponsors and local businesses is wonderful and I’d like to say thank you to everyone who supported the event. The funds raised help our community foundations develop and deliver much-needed programmes in many different areas of our city that so desperately need our help.”
“To be able to raise such a significant amount through the generosity of our supporters, sponsors and local businesses is wonderful and I’d like to say thank you to everyone who supported the event.”
The gala event’s finale was a surprise celebrity appearance from actor Shane Richie. Hot from the Bristol Hippodrome’s stage Richie joined host Lisa Knights onstage to conduct the live auction and raffle. As the crowd enjoyed some true East End banter, the TV star began by offering VIP tickets to the critically acclaimed West End play “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” which he will star in next May in Bristol.
Jon Lansdown, Bristol Sport Chairman said: “It was brilliant to have Shane Richie round off the evening. To come straight from performing in the panto “Dick Whittington” to our stadium was wonderful and I’m sure helped us get over the £50k mark which is what we were all hoping for.
“It’s a big thank you to him and of course to all of our guests for making the 2019 Gala Dinner such a success.”
The evening also saw the launch of the group’s new #ChangingLivesThroughSport campaign which enables fans to add a donation of any amount (minimum £1) to their purchase of matchday tickets. All of the money raised will be split equally between Bristol City Robins Foundation, Bristol Bears Community Foundation and Bristol Flyers Community.
View our full gallery of images from the evening here.
To register your interest in attending next year’s event please email gala.dinner@bristol-sport.co.uk
