Our first Vimba Hong Kong event !

Vimba Rooftop Drinks Reception

Our inaugural Vimba HK event kicked off, with much enthusiasm and excitement from the organisers, on the roof garden of the Fringe Club in Central Hong Kong. We firmed up a Thursday evening marking the beginning of autumn, and even though the height of summer seemed to peak that week, Mother Nature was on our side bringing a cool and rain-free evening for the rooftop drinks. The atmosphere was lively from the start, with many new faces filling the space, and conversation and drinks flowing freely. The numbers well exceeded our expectations, as well as the warm wishes from supporters passing by the reception table. It was so exciting to see how much interest had generated for Vimba during the build up to the event, as well as on the night.

Our main objective for the launch was to create awareness for Vimba in Hong Kong, and to see how and whether the public would receive a charity with an African interest out East. And the result was both a positive and attractive one. The venue looked warm and inviting, and guests were keen from the very start to hear how they could contribute, in both time and funds, towards Vimba. Means to generate funds included Vimba gift vouchers, money tins and of course, the star of the show, the ladies and gents’ raffle. Our sponsors had donated the most fantastic gifts in the weeks prior to the event. And we had an array of goodies to show off such as a massage at the Grand Hyatt, sailing course vouchers for two, dolphin watching tours, Skywalk X at the AJ Hackett Macau Tower, indoor skiing and snowboarding lessons, Body Shop gift sets, wakeboarding lessons for two, meal vouchers, golf vouchers, and a variety of tasty treats from Mama Afrika!

The raffle generated a great deal of excitement from the guests and so too did the African bongo drumming sets by Drum-Jam. It didn’t take very long for people from the crowd to stand up, feel the beat and join in with some rhythmic moves of their very own. Andrew Bresler directed the evening, as well as introduced Vimba with a short and informative speech detailing how Vimba began, our future in terms of the Child Feeding & Education Centres on the ground in Zimbabwe, and means to get involved and make contributions both on the night and in future.

Towards the end of the evening the crowd fell silent for a brief moment whilst the raffle was drawn, and two very lucky prize winners were announced. Lauren O’Brien Woodfin was our very surprised and lucky lady to have won the ladies hamper as unbeknownst to her, her husband had bought 25 tickets in her name. The gents hamper went to another amazed winner, John Torstensson, who was still in much denial the following day.

All in all, the Vimba Rooftop Drinks achieved over and above our expectations, and was a great success. Thank you to all of those who made it possible and popped past to see what we’re all about and to show your support. Not only did we manage to raise a whopping 25,000HKD, which will go directly to those children who need it most in Zimbabwe, but we had fantastic fun in doing so! Already, we have been inundated with post-event warm wishes and offers of help for the next Vimba HK rendezvous, and so to those interested parties, watch this space…

For pictures from the event please click here