Most recent acknowledgements
“On behalf of all at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice I would like to thank you for your recent donation. Our families do not have the gift of time and we want to thank you for helping us make every precious moment count.”
‘Please accept my thanks for such a great day, look forward to next year.” A. Amusa, Mace Ltd
“Thank you for organising a lovely day at the golf event, it was so enjoyable.” Andrea Dorler
“Just wanted to thank you and your colleagues for organising a most wonderful day yesterday. Both myself and fellow guests had a great time.” Paul Copeland, Spicer Haart Land & New Homes
“Many thanks for a lovely day and I trust the charity will go from strength to strength”. Stephen Blight
“I must say it was quite an emotional experience for me to be around so many memories of Dad and to know he had spent so many happy times in that place. A very uplifting experience for me, I am very much hoping to return again some time.” Julian Spear
“It was a lovely day, I really enjoyed it.” Susie Silvey
“Thank you for a great day. I really meant what I said that I hope you continue doing this wonderful work forever.” John Pyle, Pyle Owen
If you would like to help the Celebrities Guild to raise funds for people who are disabled mostly children please contact the CELEBRITIES GUILD OF GREAT BRITAIN, 020 8449 1234
"10 am – 4 pm weekdays.“
We are proud of our work at the Celebrities Guild. As an example of it, the many tricycles and wheelchairs we have bought, among all the other equipment, make disabled children mobile for the first time in their lives and is paid for by the money raised at our many fundraising events.
Just some of the letters we receive...
Thank you for your donation to cover the cost of our till and counter in our new charity shop. This is much appreciated. The shop is doing very well indeed and we are grateful that you felt able to be part of our setting up. Cherry Lodge Cancer Care
"........thank you so much for the very generous donation from the Celebrities Guild of Great Britian.
.........I know our Ger team in Mongolia will be delighted at the prospect of providing homes for the three deserving families which will mean they will gain independence, and above all, the diginity they deserve.
..........on behalf of Christina and everyone at the Foundation but especially the Sunshine Children of Vietnam and Mongolia we thank you very much for your support."
The Christina Noble Foundation
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"On behalf of everyone at the Nightingale Community Hospice Trust, please accept our sincere thanks for your donation for the purchase of a Dell computer.
We are a charity providing care for people affected by cancer and this also extends to our patients' families and their carers.
.............your donation is very important to us and our clients."
Nightingale Community Hospice Trust
"The Celebrities Guild presented a kidney dialysis machine to the intensive Care Unit at this hospital... the equipment has been successfully used with the patients owing their life entirely to the dialysis carried out by this machine."
Peterborough District Hospital
"It is extremely kind of the Guild to cover the cost of such vital equipment and your support for the children is very much appreciated."
Dorton House School
"We have put this money towards the purchase of a Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) pump, used in the control of pain for children suffering from Sickle Haemoliobinopathy."
Queen Elizabeth Hospital For Children
"Please express our gratitude to all concerned at the Celebrities Guild. We will develop the special software for telecommunication and soon after we shall be opening up the world again for one of our deaf-blind members. Thank you so much for helping to make this breakthrough possible; this equipment is the first to be placed with a deaf-blind person in this country."
National Deaf-blind League
"Your marvellous donation will help us to improve the lives of CF patients and ultimately will help bring about the defeat of Cystic Fibrosis."
Cystic Fibrosis Trust
"We are putting the money towards some play therapy for children going into the operating theatre."
Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield
The following Guest Editorial appeared on the London & UK Datebook
'Charity' - is this the definition?
The Celebrities Guild of Great Britain
(By David Simpson)
I have often been asked to define 'charity' - and today I may have found as good an answer as ever. It involves honest dedication and heartfelt commitment to the provision of very real support and relief to the needy.
I found the answer during a conversation with an extraordinary woman - Ella Glazer - who has worked on an entirely voluntary basis for 30 years after founding the Celebrities Guild of Great Britain in 1977. It is a small organisation that operates from a modest office in Cockfosters and is carried ever-forward through Ella's energy and the dedication of several part-time staff whose salaries - in Ella's own words - 'are meagre to say the least'.
The charity accepts requests for assistance from individuals with disabilities and other charities who also work to provide support for the disabled. The charity then organises the events - with the support and participation of celebrities - to raise the funds to provide what is needed. In 30 years the Guild has provided everything from minibuses, first aid boxes, furnishings for old people's homes and musical instruments to a dance floor for the Chicken Shed Theatre, sensory gardens and portable dialysis machines . . . the list goes on for pages. Ella has no idea how many individuals have been helped . . . has no idea how many events have been organised . . . and has no idea how much has been raised in the last 30 years. Nor does she want to know. The focus of the team is entirely on tomorrow's request and how it will be achieved.
Auctions, dinners, panel games, golf tournaments and cycling marathons are just some of the events organised by the Guild to raise its funds - each and every one of them supported by a variety of celebrities and public figures from the worlds of show business, the arts and sports. None receive any form of payment for attending - not even expenses. From Barbara Windsor to Sir David Jason, from Stephanie Beacham to the late Sir Yehudi Menuhin - the photo archives are a fascinating Who's Who dating back from 1977 right up to the present.
Of their many events over the years, the Guild was the first to stage an Unsung Hero scheme to recognise and applaud those individuals who have given time and energy to help others over a period of time and with no reward or award. Attended over the years by various members of the royal family and many famous people it is interesting to note just how many similar schemes are now in operation across the country on both national and local scales.
The recipe for the charity's success? There are two words. The first is - respect. Respect for the individuals asking for help. Respect for the celebrities who give their time unconditionally. Respect for those attending their fundraising events. The other word is - fun. Every one fundraising commitment is made with the express aim of ensuring that all those attending have real fun. When folk have fun, you create a bond with them and the closer the bond the more generous their contributions. Two words - its strikes me - that some charities need to bring back in to their vocabularies.
Thirty years have brought changes. Foremost is the ever eager competition within the charity sector from the thousands of newly registered organisations and secondly, the changing face of our celebrity-driven culture. This is clearly evident when Ella sees younger celebrities turning up to Black Tie events in jeans and putting their feet on the table. Ever the optimist, Ella comments, 'perhaps they'll grow out of these habits' . . . I wonder.
The Celebrities Guild of Great Britain, however, stays true to its calling and carries on doing what it does best and in a manner that clearly works. It has no wish to grow larger - preferring instead to remain a size where the level of requests is manageable and the service it provides highly personal.