Events in 2009

SANTA RUN FOR MOMENTUM

Do you think you could complete a 5 kilometre run in aid of Momentum? And would you like to do it dressed at Santa? This fun event will take place in Greenwich Park on Sunday 6th December, so bring your friends and maybe lose a few pounds before the Christmas festivities begin. If you’d like to find out more about the Santa Run or would like to receive an information pack, call the Momentum office on 020 8974 5931.

GYPSY FUNDRAISER FOR MOMENTUM

Swanbank Music presents:

'Gypsy' by Jule Styne - lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
At Putney Arts Theatre from 4th - 8th November 2009

7.45pm on 4th - 7th Nov.
2.30pm on 7th & 8th Nov.

Box Office (from 1st September)
0208 8286 0229

MOMENTUM GALA OPERA EVENING

On Sunday 1st November at 7pm, we will be staging our annual Gala Opera Evening, at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington. The evening will feature international soloists Amanda Roocroft, William Dazeley and Catherine Wyn-Rogers, accompanied by a chorus of singers from top opera companies, including the English National Opera. Tickets are priced at £22 and £17. To buy, please contact the Momentum office (020 8974 5931).

MORE MARVELLOUS MOMENTUM MAGIC

On Saturday 3rd October we held a Magic Show at Kingston Grammar School Theatre to commemorate our 5th anniversary and also to mark the National Day of Magic 2009. Impresario Richard Leigh was the mastermind behind the show and he assembled a fine cast of top magicians to thrill our family audience.

The line-up included comedy juggler and escapologist, Humphrey James, illusionist Oliver Tabor, mind-reader Kieron Kirkland, close-up magicians Paul Brown and David Major, unique and whacky bell-ringer Benson and crazy Fakir Darren and the vanishing monkey who performed with Richard Leigh himself.

Many of our Momentum families were able to join in the fun and the evening was a huge success. Our thanks go to Richard Leigh who donates his time and hard work completely free of charge to Momentum.

JO BRAND RAISES THE ROOF AT THE ROSE

On Sunday 22nd March, the inimitable Jo Brand performed her one-woman show at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, on behalf of Momentum.  The evening was a sell-out and a huge success.  Members of the audience said that they hadn’t laughed so much in ages and it was lovely to see many of Kingston Hospital’s lovely Paediatric nursing staff having such a good night out.

A huge thank you from Momentum to Jo Brand, for raising over £13,000 on our behalf that night.

Events in 2008

MAKING MAGIC FOR MOMENTUM

On Sunday 21st September, Magician Richard Leigh
(www.falseimpressions.co.uk) put together two fantastic Magic shows for Momentum. 

The theme was 'The Magic of the Circus' and the audience were treated to a history of how magic has evolved since Victorian times to the current day.

The shows took place in the wonderful theatre at Kingston Grammar School.

Many of our Momentum families watched the shows and several were invited on stage to participate. 

Although many of the acts looked terrifying and involved props such as sharp knives, a bed of nails and a guillotine - no-one was hurt and in fact the audience raised the roof with their laughter!

Many thanks to Richard Leigh for all his hard work in organising the show and to all the acts who performed to make such a special, magical show on behalf of Momentum.

Celebrities raise over £6,000 on our Golf Day

On Friday 16th May, 18 teams of four golfers put on their spikes at the beautiful Richmond Golf Club in Surrey, to raise money for Momentum. The day was organised on our behalf by Ian Ashpitel of the Stage Golfing Society who arranged for 18 celebrities from stage, screen and radio to play a special round with three other golfers. The celebrities included Momentum's new Patron, the actor Phil Glenister, who by all accounts had a very good round!

The golf was played to Stapleford rules, with the added bonus that each golfer was allowed to buy up to three Mulligans' for £10 apiece. They then received a Momentum balloon for each Mulligan, which they could let go in return for taking a second shot at their opening drive (if it was a bit of a duffer!).

Clear skies helped ensure the day was a huge success. After play, the golfers sat down to a delicious carvery lunch in the clubhouse which was followed by the fundraising raffle, auction and prize-giving ceremony - finished off by a lively, impromptu cabaret!

Our thanks to Richmond Golf Club for all their help hosting the event and a special mention to Andy Butcher, MD of Holidays Abroad who sponsored a hole where each golfer could have a shot at winning a wonderful golf holiday.

Also many thanks to our other sponsors, American Golf ,who provided some excellent prizes; Mia Wood for their generosity and adding to a touch of finesse to the sports goodie bags! Waitrose for helping provide refreshments and Wined Up Here for the golfer's favourite tipple!

The Celebrity Golf Day raised well over £6,000 for Momentum and the monies will be put towards financing the Momentum holiday home. Such was the success of the day that we are planning to stage the same event at Richmond Golf Club next summer, so book your places now to avoid disappointment!

Romantic Fundraiser

On Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th February, the weekend preceding Valentine's Day, romance was in the air at the Bentall Centre in Kingston upon Thames.

Numerous volunteers came along to help Momentum inflate over 10,000 heart shaped balloons to hand out to eager shoppers.

Everyone was keen to take a balloon and in return, kindly made a donation to Momentum. Then there was an opportunity for those of a romantic nature to have their photograph taken by Snappy Snaps behind our specially made Valentine's boards.

The weekend's donations came to £3,557.66 - a fabulous total. Many thanks to Ann Brown and Ali Trigg for running the event and thanks also to all our wonderful volunteers who turned up to help. Most of all a special thanks to the Bentall Centre for supplying us with all those heart-shaped balloons and for giving Momentum an opportunity to spread some romance and raise valuable funds at the same time!

Art Auction raises £2,500 for Momentum

On Friday 6th June, two local Kingston schools, St. Paul’s Church of England Junior School and Alexandra Infant School, held an art competition and auction to raise funds for Momentum. The auction included original contributions from famous illustrators, Ian Beck, Quentin Blake and Nick Sharratt.

The art auction had the broad theme ‘I Can’ and invited entries from current and former pupils from both schools, as well as their friends and families. Prize-winners were then chosen from each year group and then further artworks were chosen to auction in aid of Momentum.

Organiser Sharon Mehta, who has a son at St. Paul’s said: “I wanted to hold an art extravaganza which everyone could join in and be creative together. There was a wonderful atmosphere at the auction and at the same time we raised over £2,500 for Momentum”.

Sharon not only framed all the paintings to be exhibited, she also managed to persuade Christies’ auctioneer Anna Evans to conduct the auction. Then prizes were presented by Guests of honour, Chloe Parsons, a former pupil at St. Paul’s and Holly Loveless, a current pupil, who have both undergone treatment for cancer and have been helped by Momentum.

Many thanks to Sharon Mehta and to all the wonderful artists whose work was auctioned on our behalf.

Rags Raise Riches

On Sunday 8th June our ‘Rags to Riches’ Cabaret took place at the Normansfield Theatre in Teddington. This historic Victorian theatre is a beautiful venue and provided a wonderfully atmospheric and intimate space. Under the creative direction of Momentum Trustee and Technical Director, Stephen Humphrey McDermott, the tables were dressed with beautiful candles, ‘jewels’ and chocolate coins and each was given an inspirational name such as ‘Diamonds’, ‘Porche’ and ‘Caviar’ (you get the idea!)

After being served a glass of pink fizz and enjoying a three-course dinner, 150 guests were treated to a fantastic stage show, which rivalled anything in the West End. Momentum Trustee Kim Ismay and her fellow performers Amy Hill, Kelly Rainford, David Erik and Keith Anthony Higham, sang their hearts out in a fabulous show, created especially for Momentum, with every song reflecting the theme ‘Rags to Riches’. They were accompanied by Anthony England on piano keyboard and it was a truly fantastic performance from all concerned!

In the interval there was a fundraising auction compered by Simon Osborne, featuring a tennis racket donated Greg Rusedski and tickets and a backstage tour of the hit West End show ‘Hairspray’. Then the second half of the show was just as fabulous as the first and all the guests came away humming tunes such as ‘Money, Money, Money’ and ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’

Once again, Momentum would like to thank the wonderful performers and all the technical crew, especially Humph and Kim, who put so much hard work into events like this on behalf of Momentum. Their commitment and professionalism is truly appreciated by everyone connected to the charity.

Finally, our thanks to Hannah and Owen who gave eloquent and moving speeches about their own experiences as a teenage cancer sufferer and the father of a very young child with cancer. Both Hannah and Owen are part of the Momentum ‘family’ and their participation at an event like this is the best possible way of communicating to all the guests on the evening how much the fundraising support given to Momentum is appreciated.

Momentum Magic Day

On Saturday 2nd February Momentum joined forces with the incredible magician, Richard Leigh of False Impressions to celebrate the National Day of Magic.

On our behalf, Richard got together a group of his talented colleagues to stage four fundraising shows at the Arthur Cotterell Theatre in Kingston College, Kingston upon Thames. The shows included MR TIZ GOES TO THE CIRCUS for tiny tots, featuring Mr Tiz, Richard Leigh and Corinne-Elise. Then there were two performances of THE MAGIC CAVERN aimed to entertain all the family and presented again by Richard Leigh with David Major.

In the evening the main attraction was the MOMENTUM MAGIC GALA SHOW. This was a true 'Spectacular' featuring Richard's incredible Houdini Substitution Trunk Illusion, followed by URBAN MYTH, an amazing Illusion Act. Then came Extreme Juggler PHIL BLACKMORE who caused a stir by juggling chainsaws, spears, and jelly babies!

The whole show was compered by Zac Bauman, whose wonderful singing kept the audience entertained throughout. After the interval during which the audience were held in thrall by close-up magicians, the next act was Benson and his hilarious comedy bell ringing routine and last but not least, crazy comedy magic act Soft Cabaret. It was an absolutely jam-packed show, worthy of any West End theatre.

As it was the National Day of Magic, all these incredible acts performed completely free of charge to support Momentum and raised £4,800 in the process. Our thanks to them for providing a truly memorable day and most particularly to Richard Leigh and Humphrey McDermott for putting the whole event together.

Events in 2007

Cabaret Evening

Momentum's Cabaret event 'Lights, Camera' Cabaret!' was a spectacular success on the evening of Sunday 23rd September. 200 guests arrived at Clarendon Hall, York House, in Twickenham, in black tie and evening dress.

After their welcome glass of champagne, they were ushered into the Hall where tables had been laid with a themed centrepiece, consisting of film cannisters, strips of film and boxes of popcorn to set the mood.

After the first two courses of dinner, during which guests were entertained by magician Richard Special www.tricku.com, the Cabaret began. Momentum's Patron Kim Ismay was joined by fellow performers Amy Hill, Kieran Jay, David Erik and Kelly Rainford. They sang their hearts out to the inexhaustible accompaniment of Alastair Gavin on the piano. The theme was Music from the Movies and they covered films over the whole history of filmmaking.

During the interval we showed the DVD about Momentum which was made earlier this year for us by the Media Trust (you can watch it on our video page).

Then Jeff Brown, the father of Kiera who very sadly passed away recently, gave an incredibly moving speech about his daughter and his family's connections with Momentum. Many, many thanks to Jeff for the kind words he said about the charity and for the very touching words he had to say about his beautiful daughter.

The evening then progressed with a fundraising auction compered superbly by Simon Osborne. Lots for auction included a meal for 10 cooked in your home, by Paul Brown, Head Chef at London's famous Le Caprice restaurant.

After the auction the Cabaret continued with our five wonderful performers bringing us up to contemporary times, with songs from the Bond movies, Moulin Rouge, Dirty Dancing, Footloose and Flashdance, to name but a few.

At Momentum we are constantly overwhelmed by the generosity of all the people involved in staging an event like this. Everything was masterminded by Steven Humphrey McDermott, one of our Trustees, and he and all the performers and the technicians gave their time and considerable energies, absolutely free of charge. Thank you so much, to all of them, from everyone connected to Momentum.

The Cabaret evening raised approximately £13,500 which will go towards our next project -to provide a holiday respite home for sick children and their families.

Gala Opera Evening

We were very proud to hold our third Gala Opera Evening at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington on Sunday 11th November. An audience of about 300 people soaked up the wonderful atmosphere in the beautiful old church and enjoyed some wonderful singing.

Stephen Harris, the Musical Director for the evening, had put together a programme of classical and contemporary pieces which were beautifully interpreted by Caroline Jaya-Ratnam on the piano. The three soloists, Doreen Curran (Mezzo Soprano), Ashley Holland (Baritone) and Nicky Spence (Tenor) were all in fine voice and when joined by the English National Opera chorus, it really sent a tingle down your spine.

The last song before the interval was Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck and some of the Momentum children handed out glow sticks (courtesy of GLOBAL MARKETING GROUP) which meant that the darkened auditorium was lit solely by tiny points of light in the audience. It was all very magical and gave everyone time to think about the children and families whom Momentum support.

After the interval, the sound of bagpipes filled the church and the audience were treated to a medley from the Downside School Pipe Band. Once again, this haunting music was beautifully suited to our surroundings.

Momentum would like to thank everyone involved in staging the Gala Opera Evening. As with our previous events, all the performers and technical people gave their services and time, completely free of charge. This generosity is much appreciated by everyone involved with the charity.

Final figures have not yet been counted, but with a generous £10,000 contribution from our current sponsors, Waitrose, the evening raised well over £20,000. This will go towards our latest fundraising project, to provide a holiday home for sick children and their families.

Venetian Masked Ball

The Momentum Venetian Masked Ball and Dinner, on Friday 16th February, was our most ambitious fundraising event to date and was a huge success. Read more.

Harlequins Rugby Club

On Saturday the 6th October, Momentum was the recipient charity for the ground collection at the rugby match between the Harlequins Rugby Club and Bristol, at Twickenham Rugby Stadium. Thanks to them for choosing us.

Events in 2006

12th November 2006 - An Evening of Opera

On 12th November 2006 MOMENTUM staged a fantastic Opera Evening at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington The evening featured soloists: Rosa Mannion (soprano), Louise Winter (mezzo), Julian Gavin (tenor), Neal Davies (bass-baritone) and members of the English National Opera Chorus conducted by Stephen Harris.

We also enjoyed musical contributions from the singing 'Coli-Flowers' and wonderful bagpipe music from the Downside School Pipe Band.

Many thanks to all the performers whose contributions were much appreciated.

29th June 2006 - Celebrity Golf Day at The Richmond Golf Club

On 12th November 2006 MOMENTUM staged a fantastic Opera Evening at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington The evening featured soloists: Rosa Mannion (soprano), Louise Winter (mezzo), Julian Gavin (tenor), Neal Davies (bass-baritone) and members of the English National Opera Chorus conducted by Stephen Harris.

We also enjoyed musical contributions from the singing 'Coli-Flowers' and wonderful bagpipe music from the Downside School Pipe Band.

Many thanks to all the performers whose contributions were much appreciated.

28th June 2006 -"I-Can" Art Auction at St.Paul's Junior School, Kingston

This was a wonderful evening at St. Paul's C. of E. Junior School in Kingston. 28 exceptional pieces of art by children at this school and Alexandra Infant School, were auctioned by Deborah Park, an auctioneer from Christie's. 50 more pictures were sold by silent auction. Lots also included art donated by Jacqueline Wilson, Quentin Blake, Nick Sharratt and John Inverdale.

Kingston Mayor, Councellor Mary Reid, opened the auction and presented Momentum teddy bears to three children who had won the art competition preceding the auction. Cllr Reid also presented teddies to cancer patients Chloe Parsons and Holly Loveless (see picture) who have connections with St. Paul's School.

The auction was organised by Sharon Mehta. See also the links to the Mayor's website and to St. Paul's School website.

23rd June 2006 - Jo Brand live at Kingston College

On 23rd June Jo Brand performed her fantastic one-woman show for an audience of 350 people at Kingston College. Many thanks to Jo for an hilarious and highly-entertaining evening.

30th April 2006 - Cabaret Evening at Landmark Arts Centre

On Sunday 30th April, we held a Cabaret Evening at the Landmark Arts Centre, Ferry Road, Teddington.

"From Broadway to Hollywood" was a musical journey featuring leading actors from several West End smash hits.

Hosted by well-known television actor, Martin Ball, the show starred: Kim Ismay (Mamma Mia! and Sunset Boulevard), Kelly Rainford (Mamma Mia! and Sweet Charity), David Erik (Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon), Amy Hill (Holby City) and Kieran Jae (Mamma Mia! and Fame). The Musical Director was Carlton Edwards (Mamma Mia! International Tour).

11th/12th February 2006 - Valentine's Weekend at The Bentall Centre

We were promoting Momentum at The Bentall Centre in Kingston - we had 4 stands featuring all our publicity material. We spent 4 days blowing up over 11,500 heart-shaped balloons which we gave away in return for a small donation. We raised a total of £5,500 - it was exhausting, but worth it!

Events 2005

10th December 2005 - Visit to Santa's Grotto

We arranged a return visit to the magical Santa's Grotto in Painshill Park.

6th November 2005 - Charity Opera Gala

Some of Britain's most distinguished opera singers agreed to perform in this concert at Landmark Arts Centre, Ferry Road, Teddington.

Soprano Jane Gilchrist (C4's Operatunity winner), Mezzo-soprano Lucy Schaufer* (recently in ENO's On The Town), Tenor Christopher Gillett and Baritone Richard Suart were the soloists. They were joined by the chorus of English National Opera and principal harpist Alison Martin.

*Please note that Lucy Schaufer's biog is in PDF format.

The programme included a cross section of some of the world's operatic favourites, with items from Bernsteinto Verdi. Along with Richard Suart's internationally renowned reputation for his involvement with Gilbert and Sullivan, the evening was a memorable one of great contrasts.

16th October 2005 - Bikers support children with cancer

The charity run was the idea of Adam James of New Malden who wanted to organise a bike ride to support a local charity. Adam wanted to support a local charity and Momentum fitted the bill.

The bikers rode from Bury Hill to Box Hill, and then on to Kingston Hospital, bringing cheques and equipment such as DVDs, CDs and computer games. They were greeted on arrival at Kingston Hospital by a group of children currently undergoing treatment at the hospital, and some who have finished their treatment.

Bianca Effemey, the voluntary co-ordinator of Momentum, was delighted with the amount raised by the bikers: "Momentum is wholly reliant on donations such as this to continue our vital work in improving the lives of local children and their families living with cancer. Kingston Hospital treats around 30 children a year with cancer and Momentum is the only charity supporting these children through the provision of equipment, improving facilities at the hospital and offering a support network for parents".

Photos taken on the day are in the Picture Gallery. (Photo credit: Eve Hicks, evehicks@onetel.com, alternative photos available from Eve on 020 8543 1072 or 07930 364 372)

For more information about the bike ride visit www.boxhill.co.uk

10th April 2005 - An Evening of Cabaret

Thank you to everyone who supported this event on 10th April 2005 at the Vera Fletcher Hall in Thames Ditton (www.esher.ac.uk/verafletcherhall).

The evening was a great success and raised significant funds for the charity. Special thanks must go to Kim Ismay (www.kimismay.com) and her MD Warren Wills for their fabulous performance.

Momentum would also like to thank all the individuals and companies that made donations and/or helped organise the evening.

The review of the cabaret is in PDF format.