Most Wanted Gala Dinner

16th October 2007, Waldorf Hilton Hotel, London

200 guests attended the Most Wanted Gala Dinner held at the Waldorf Hotel on 16th October 2007. Crimestoppers' corporate supporters, including New World Security, Capgemini and G4S attended the event as well as our trustees, Lord Ashcroft, Amanda Platell and Baroness Trumpington.

The evening started with a champagne reception in the Waldorf's Palm Court, with mellow jazz performed by Big Buzzard. A fingerprinting desk provided personalised Crimestoppers keyrings as souvenirs and a photographer was on hand to capture the theme of the evening, putting guests ‘behind bars' in ‘Most Wanted' photographs.

To raise funds on the evening, guests popped their way to prizes with ‘Pick of the Pops', a variation on the traditional raffle. Once popped, each balloon contained details of a mystery prize. Thanks to the generosity of 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Warner and Walt Disney Home entertainment, who all donated a fantastic selection of DVDs, every one was a winner.

The auction was conducted by Christopher Biggins, who did a fantastic job building up guests' enthusiasm for all the lots. Among the auction lots, guests bid for an exclusive opportunity to mingle with the stars at film premiere of the “Bee Movie” in Leicester Square, complete with a chauffeur driven Audi up to the red carpet. Also snapped up was a VIP ski holiday in Val d'Isère, 2 weeks in a luxury villa in St Lucia and the chance to experience the fabulous ‘Classical Spectacular' concert at the Royal Albert Hall from the comfort of a private box for 10 people.

Guests were entertained throughout the evening by Shazia Mirza, who performed her stand up comedy routine; award-winning TV investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre, who took the floor to talk about his undercover work in Northern Ireland and Big Buzzard who enticed the guests onto the dance floor until 1am.

The evening was very much enjoyed by all who attended and raised £30,000 to boost Crimestoppers funds – all in all a great success.