The 2018 Charity Series is off to a winning start!

The 2018 Charity Series is off to a winning start!
 

February can only mean one thing around these parts: the great big annual inter-charity pub quiz, run by the all-star charity softball league committee, attended by the fastest 40 charities to bag a place, and sponsored by us as the first event in the 2018 Harris Hill Charity Series!

Last Tuesday night's event kicked things off in fine style at the packed-out Patch Bar in St Paul's who were fantastic hosts as always, so a huge thank you - not just for the warm welcome and great service, but really getting into the spirit with a spontaneous extra prize for the fundraising raffle too!

Speaking of which, our sincere thanks to all the brilliant organisations who generously donated prizes including (deep breath): health spas Embody Wellness and Floatworks Vauxhall, the Sipsmith Gin Distillery in Chiswick, Kennington's stylish Windmill Flowers, Irish and Welsh rugby teams Connacht and the Ospreys, and perhaps the most exciting-yet-slightly-terrifying of all, Whistlepunks Urban Axe Throwing!

All for a great cause

This year's proceeds from the quiz night raffle are going to Muscular Dystrophy UK, adding a healthy sum to the funds raised by their presumably-even-healthier challenge events managerKrishan Solanki.

Undertaking both a gruelling Iron Man challenge AND the London Marathon in the next few months for the charity, we're delighted to be contributing to his support, and if you'd like to as well, justclick here or on the image above to find out more.

For us, there was just one problem when it came to selling raffle tickets: in our enthusiasm for the great cause and excitement over the stellar selection of prizes, we'd forgotten to factor in just how fast we've all gone cashless and contactless in the past 12 months alone, so understandably the coin buckets were looking a little lighter than usual at first.

Luckily though, Harris Hill's outstanding, inspiring, wise and wonderfully generous (that's GOT to be worth a promotion or two, surely...) chief exec Mr Aled Morris was on hand, pledging to match the total raised and, having done so, rounding that up to a record-breaking raffle total of £1500!

So a fantastic result all round, many thanks to everyone involved, and with further funds forthcoming for Krishan's fearsome feats, it looks being a great result for Muscular Dystrophy UK too.

And speaking of results...

...it just remains to reveal this year's smarties of the sector and champion of the charities.

With a maximum of 50 points on offer, and given a close run by third-placed Asthma UK and silver medallists Citizens Advice, it's gold-plated congratulations to the Canal & River Trust!

We'll do it all again next year (hopefully with added card machine) - we hope to see you there!

Team Harris Hill