The Arora Charitable Foundation, founded by Surinder and Sunita Arora to manage the charitable work of the Arora Group, today announced it has raised nearly £700,000 at the latest Arora Ball.
The Ball took place on Saturday 3 December at the Group’s newest flagship hotel, InterContinental London – The O2, and was held in aid of Unicef, the world’s leading children’s organisation, and Shiksha ki Ore, a campaign by India's news and infotainment network, NDTV, in partnership with the Kalinga Institute Of Social Sciences which helps educate underprivileged children in India.
The Gold Masquerade themed evening, which entailed a champagne reception; sumptuous four-course dinner; and range of special performances, included a star appearance and exclusive auction prize from Sir Cliff Richard.
Lord Jeffrey Archer acted as Auctioneer for the evening, raising over £215,000 alone from the live auction and pledges. Popular prizes included tickets to Chanel’s Paris Fashion Week Ready-to-Wear show and a private tour of Coco Chanel’s apartment; an exclusive glamour experience with Unicef Ambassador and supermodel, Claudia Schiffer; and Sir Cliff’s personal car, a Mercedes 500SL, that individually raised over £50,000 for the Foundation1.
Commenting on the event, Sir Cliff Richard said: “It was not only a pleasure but also a privilege to participate in and attend the Arora Ball, which benefits such worthy causes. I was delighted to be able to support Surinder and Sunita Arora and am thrilled that auctioning of my car raised so much money for such wonderful causes.”
Sunita Arora, joint founder of the Arora Charitable Foundation, commented: “We are incredibly grateful to all those who have contributed to making the Ball such a success, including our guests, sponsors and those involved in organising the event itself. Brian Conley, Sir Cliff Richard and Lord Jeffrey Archer were wonderful hosts, and as well as ensuring the evening was a fabulous experience, most importantly, they also helped to raise fantastic sums for our nominated causes.”
For more information, contact:
Davies Tanner PR
T: +44 (0) 1892 619 100
E: Julia.Gosling@DaviesTanner.com / Becca.Krug@DaviesTanner.com
Notes to Editors
The Arora Ball
The Ball was organised in conjunction with India’s largest news network, NDTV, together with the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, and The Arora Group is grateful to all of the organisations and individuals who supported the event.
1Details on the auction prizes can be found at http://www.aroraballauction.com
Arora Group
The Arora Group is a successful UK-focused private group of companies, which leverages synergies across its specialist property, construction and hotel divisions to its strategic advantage. Since 1999, the Group has built its standing through meticulously managing projects from inception to delivery and beyond. Today, it owns and manages a diverse portfolio of flagship assets across the nation’s key business locations, partnering with some of the world’s most recognised brands to deliver consistently high service levels and sustainable growth. For more information please visit www.thearoragroup.com
The Arora Charitable Foundation
The Arora Charitable Foundation was established to create a structure for the Arora Group to support social responsibility initiatives in the UK and overseas. To date three Arora Balls have been held; the inaugural Arora Ball was held in 2012 at Sofitel London Heathrow and in 2014 the Ball took place at Sofitel London Heathrow, and this year’s Ball at the Intercontinental - The O2. The charity Balls have now raised a combined total of over £1.8 million on behalf of the Arora Charitable Foundation.
The Foundation works closely with the charities it supports to ensure that all donations achieve their desired objectives. Its mission is to empower the communities it supports and create opportunities for the underprivileged, primarily through education and healthcare. With an internationally recognised portfolio of hotels, Arora Hotels comprises some of the UK’s finest large-scale business and leisure hotels, including Sofitel London Heathrow, Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel, Sofitel London Gatwick and London’s largest new luxury event venue, InterContinental London – The O2. Also operated by Arora Hotels is the Arora Hotel Gatwick/Crawley, Holiday Inn London Heathrow, Hilton Stansted Airport and Savill Court Hotel & Spa near Windsor.
