A dazzling ‘Hollywood Meets Bollywood’ event, held in Leicester, has raised around £40,000 for two charities in the area.
The glitzy event, was held at the Athena Events Venue last Friday (January 27). It was designed to raise funds for two local causes; Leicestershire Asian Business Association Charitable Foundation and the University of Leicester’s Department of Cardiovascular Sciences.
Narinder Singh, one of the organisers hailed it a “positive and fun event,” adding that he was taken aback by the generosity of people on the night, who bought raffle tickets, made pledges and bid in an exciting live auction.
“The atmosphere was so positive and people were really generous when it came to the auction. We had a target in mind for each item, but were consistently blown away when some went on to double our estimate,” he told the Leicester Times.
“I think because there was a nice happy atmosphere in the room, that always feeds through into the bidding, so we managed to raise a great amount!”
Over 500 people supported Friday’s event, with guests turning out in a mixture of black tie and traditional Asian outfits to support the ‘Hollywood Meets Bollywood’ theme.
Entertainment on the night was provided by Navin Kundra and Nadia Chaliah, who performed a range of well-known Hollywood and Bollywood tracks.
It was the first time the event had happened since March 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Because it’s been a while since people have been to large scale events, and because this particular event hasn’t happened for a few years, it was a nice chance to get people back enjoying themselves,” said Mr Singh. “It all came together very nicely and was great success!”
“It’s been a wonderful evening, we’ve all had a good time, great food, good company, good entertainment and to top it all a wonderful cause,” said one party-goer, following the event.
“It’s a wonderful evening and it’s been an absolute hoot,” added another. “Really enjoyable – a good cause and a lot of good people. I’m really pleased to be here.”
