The star studded ballet gala we organised on May 7th was an overwhelming success! At the heart of it was the Romanian ballerina Alina Cojocaru, principal dancer with the Royal Opera Ballet, who so generously offered to act as a patron for our new appeal: building a Hospice of Hope in Romania's capital, Bucharest.

Together with a host of internationally renowned dancers, including Roberta Marquez of The Royal Ballet, Daniel Ulbricht of the New York City Ballet, Marian Walter of the Berlin State Ballet and her own partner Johan Kobborg, also a Royal Ballet principal dancer, Alina Cojocaru has donated time, effort and incredible talent to raise over £60,000 for Hospices of Hope.

"You are never too young to lend a helping hand and it's never too late to start. No matter how busy we are, we can all take a moment and say 'I can reach out, I can help, I can do something'. This is what tonight was about for me. A step towards saying that I'm not too young or too busy, I can help and this is what I want to do.” - Alina Cojocaru

In a packed Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, with over 800 people in attendance, the dancers' stunning performances were acclaimed by amateur ballet lovers and critics alike. The audience enjoyed a very complex and varied gala programme which put Jerome Robbins' Other Dances and Tim Rushton's Afternoon of a Faun, next to celebrated classical highlights and a world premier piece by Kim Brandstrup, Bird as Prophet.

Our charity ballet gala marked the first step towards raising the 4 million euros that will build the centre for palliative care and training in Bucharest. That hospice will provide 24 beds for adults, 6 respite beds for children, a day centre, out-patient clinics, home-care services as well as training for doctors and nurses from Romania and neighbouring countries. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those who have responded in so many ways to our appeal on that memorable night. It was an amazing start to our campaign!

You can help...

Give time as a Volunteer...

...or take challenge 

See our Annual Report for full details of our achievements last year