Making Dreams Come True

22nd January 2020, an evening of enchantment and making dreams come true. Our Travel & Tourism students planned and delivered a spectacular fundraising dinner in aid of Dreamflight UK. Our Catering & Hospitality students also worked hard to support the event by providing the venue, cooking an extravagant 3-course meal and serving the 93 guests.

Brooks Restaurant, at our Weybridge campus, came to life as the beautiful venue for the fundraiser. Scattered shining stars, elegant red flourishes and a delightful Disney theme added extra magic to the evening.

Champagne flutes upon entry, the event began with a touching presentation introducing the charity and their amazing work that changes young lives through taking children with a serious illness or disability, without their parents, on the holiday of a lifetime to Orlando, Florida. Guests then tucked in to a delicious starter of deep fried crispy poached egg and asparagus with a lemon dressing. The main offered a succulent pan roasted breast of chicken with thyme-flavoured vegetables and a Madeira sauce or sumptuous mushroom and butternut squash risotto with grated parmesan.

The special guest speaker for the evening was James Kislingbury, Managing Director at The London Bridge Experience and former Brooklands College student. “I hope tonight is a great success for the students, they’ve worked really hard with the event. It’s an amazing turnout of characters here tonight. The students from Brooklands College are a wonderful bunch, I couldn’t think of a better place to come and support.” Initially wanting to do catering, James found his feet in the Travel & Tourism course at Brooklands College. He went on to do a marketing degree and is now content in his career at The London Bridge Experience. “I did my NVQ in Travel & Tourism, it really got me on the straight and narrow because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m always very happy and proud to come back here and support the college.”

With stomachs satisfied, it was time to challenge the mind with a few fun quizzes on general knowledge and travel themes. This was followed by a gorgeous dessert of an Elderflower tart with sugared strawberries and vanilla meringues. The evening continued to excel in joy and entertainment as raffle and bingo games were enjoyed. A gripping auction was also on the agenda with prizes including The London Bridge Experience tickets, a Silent Pool Gin Tour, a 1-year gym membership and a meal for 2 at Runnymede. Guests rose to the occasion with lively bidding challenges, James Kislingbury from The London Bridge Experience even threw in two more tickets to fuel the fun. Sweet treats together with tea and coffee were also served in-between the games. DJ Latino provided upbeat music throughout the evening.

“Organising an event has taught us skills that will help us with our course – we’ve had to take responsibility for things and be organized. It was hard work, but we are extremely proud of what we have achieved.”

The Level 3 Extended Diploma in Travel & Tourism team included Sanjina Gauchan, Diana Vieira and Clarice Baughen from Woking, Patricia Franco from Ashford, and Katie Reay from Addlestone. The students successfully organised the charity event with the guidance of tutors Maria and Kelly.

Director of Service Industries Terrie Carter mentions, “The students have done a fantastic job making this event a success. We would also like to thank all the organisations who have supported our fundraiser with prizes and donations for the evening.”

The charity event raised over £2,000 for the wonderful UK organisation Dreamflight. Helping a child’s dream take off, Dreamflight changes the lives of young people by taking children with serious illnesses or disabilities on a holiday of a lifetime in Orlando, Florida. The evening was a great success with the guests happy in hearts, minds and bellies.

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