This year’s White Hat Ball is set to make £150,000 for charity, according to the organisers.
White Hat Events chair Gerry O’Neill told IT Security Guru that it was close to the figure and it had achieved its aim of breaking the £1 million barrier since the beginning of the events nine years ago.
He said: “We raised £144,000 on the night and we were delighted to find that the hotel is going to give us 15 per cent of the bar takings, unheard of in a London hotel.
“I think this was one of the best balls yet; the combination of the people there, the mood they were in and entertainment was great. All in all it was a good event and we raised money, so it was a win/win situation.”
Among the charities that money was raised for was ChildLine. “A sincere word of thanks is needed for our ChildLine representatives and volunteers who contribute materially to the planning and logistics of the evening. We couldn’t do it without them,” he said.
White Hat events co-founder Malcolm Marshall, said: “The Ball and the related activities have grown way beyond the original aspirations of the founders. It’s a tribute to the diverse players in the industry that they can come together and collaborate so well to defend vulnerable young people.”
Stephen Bonner, partner at KPMG, said: “Without the White Hat Ball I would never have met the best recruit I ever hired, would never have run 26 miles and would never have had the chance to say I helped do something so critically important and yet so much fun.
“White Hat changes lives – not just of the children we raise funds to protect but also for those that dive in to make the event such a special atmosphere and find such an amazingly varied set of ways to raise funds.”
