The summer sun made an appearance especially for the Swings & Smiles Summer Cocktail Party which took place this week at our beautiful Wickham House.
Swings & Smiles is a registered charity set up in 2007 with the aim of improving the quality of life of children with special needs and their families by providing them with fully accessible, safe play in a place where every child is welcomed and can enjoy the facilities and opportunities that are available.
The event brought 100 guests together from the West Berkshire business community to celebrate the invaluable support that Swings & Smiles provides to families who have a child with special needs. Sian Cook, Founder, explained to guests the charity’s vision and long term plans to build their permanent home and how they could help make this dream a reality.
Sian paid tribute to the team at Swings & Smiles including the supportive patrons who were also there – Mary Cameron, Peter Baker, Richard Benyon MP and Chris Tarrant who shared why he is so proud to be a Patron of the charity: “Swings & Smiles is such a great charity … What Sian and co have done for so many children with special needs in the Berkshire area on always limited funds has just been extraordinary.” Taking to the stage, Alex Scrimgeour, CEO of Cote Restaurants made a very special announcement: Cote will be launching a fundraising promotion in all of their 78 (soon to be 81) restaurants nationwide. They have a dessert of the month and during September ALL net proceeds will be donated to Swings & Smiles. What a great start towards the estimated £700k needed for their permanent site
We’d also like to thank Andrew Mckenzie, Managing Director of the Vineyard Group who very kindly provided the delicious canapes and wines.
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