St Andrew’s Caledonian Charity Ball 2017 – Photo Gallery

Were you at the Caledonian Charity Ball on Saturday 25 November 2017? We had another fabulous evening while raising almost PLN 175,000 for charity – with your help we’ve now raised more than PLN 500,000 from the last three Balls.  Working with our partner charities, Iskierka and TPD Helenów, your donations are being used to buy equipment and build facilities for ill young people in Poland.

To help you fondly remember (or remember it at all if you imbibed a little too much of the water of life) your night at the 2017 Ball and to encourage you to join us again next year we’re happy to share a few photos of the evening.

Welcome to our guests

After the company was piped into the Ballroom by Częstochowa Pipes and Drums, Paul Gogolinski (St Andrew’s Foundation Vice President) made the formal introductions and welcomed our guests before presenting a quaich to Marriott GM and Honorary Scot Robert Grader in recognition of the tremendous effort and support provided by the Warsaw Marriott Hotel for so many Caledonian Balls.  As Scots, we were impressed by Robert’s Scottish accent on reciting the Selkirk Grace to begin the dinner.

Guest of Honour

Our Guest of Honour, the Haggis, travelled all the way from Scotland to be with us and received the traditional welcome, Robert Burns’ “Address to a Haggis”, renedered in his own inimitable style by Iain Leyden, Board Member of the St Andrew’s Foundation.

Dinner

Guests enjoyed a fabulous Scottish themed dinner prepared under direction of the Marriott’s Executive Chef, Paweł Kałuski, washed down by wines sponsored by Dentons and whiskies and vodkas provided by United Beverages. During dinner, entertainment was provided by Polish folk dancers from the Mazowsze Dance Group and by a display of piping and Scottish highland dancing by the members of Częstochowa Pipes and Drums.

The Ceilidh

For some of us, the Ceilidh with its energetic country dancing is the essence of the St Andrew’s Caledonian Charity Ball.

As always we danced to the music of Scotia’s Hardy Sons, David Vernon, Alistair McCulloch and Alex Hodgson. As well as our Scottish Country Dancing, the ceilidh also featured a performance by the dancers from Arthur Murray Dance Studio Warsaw who demonstrated a Polish Waltz before leading us in a Polonaise and a Viennese Waltz.

Raffle and Auction

Many thanks to all of you who gave so generously in the raffle and auction and many thanks to our sponsors and supporters for their donation of many fabulous prizes and auction lots.

And finally….

A huge vote of thanks to all:

• who helped to organise the Ball and make it run smoothly on the night;
• our many supporters whose generous donations in cash and kind made the whole evening possible;
• those behind the scenes who prepared our food, served our tables and manned the various bars;
• who entertained us throughout the evening; and,
• our guests who responded to our charity appeal by giving generously.