Lee Solomon and his partner, Charlotte Adkins, were honoured to attend the Charlie Ramsey Research Fund Charity Ball that was held at the Birmingham Airport Holiday Inn on Saturday 7th October.
The Charlie Ramsey Research Fund supports and sponsors research that will benefit babies and children with a Single Ventricle Heart Condition (half a heart). The Charity provides and sponsors medical equipment to assist in the research and development of surgery for Single Ventricle Heart Disease. The charity promotes and raises awareness of the importance of saving lives through organ donation, the gift of life.
The charity ball was a black-tie event set up to raise awareness and funds to help support and sponsor research for young people with half a heart. Doors opened at 7pm, we were promptly seated as the food was served and beverages were at our tables. Many events took place throughout the night to help raise money for the charity, these included a raffle, games and silent auctions.
As the night went on, the generosity of everyone in attendance became greater and greater. It was lovely to watch such a large community gather in support for the charity. There was a gentleman who won a prize for a large donation, who then donated it back to the charity to be auctioned off again. There was another table who had people that had flew in from Spain to show their support. It truly was a magical night that was full of kindness.
There was one moment of the night that hit the emotional bullseye, the magnitude of the message it gave made you realise how important charity events like the black-tie ball are. Sandra Ramsey, one of the founders and committee member was describing what the charity does and how it helps. After a very clear and detailed summary of what they do and how they help, Sandra called several children and young adults onto the stage (I think it was about 7 people). Sandra than announced between them they had over 100+ open heart surgeries and wouldn’t be living the quality of life that they do if it wasn’t for the charity helping support the research that goes into knowing how to help these babies and children. This really hit home how important the charity is and I felt privileged to be sharing a room with such brave young people.
The Charlie Ramsey Research Fund hosts a number of events throughout the year that you can get involved with, such as golf days, abseils and social gatherings. If you would like to read more or even donate, please follow the link.