Charity event: The Queen’s Birthday 2019 was a great success!

On Thursday 9 May, the British Society São Paulo once again organised the traditional Queen’s Birthday , a charity event whose proceeds fund the social projects run by the British Foundation to support vulnerable elderly people. The Queen’s Birthday Party is the main event for the British community worldwide and marks the date on which all its members come together to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday.

In Brazil, this celebration has been held annually over the past few decades by the British Society São Paulo, with the aim of supporting the FBB in its mission.

The Queen’s Birthday 2019

As usual, this charity event was held at the Brazilian-British Centre, conceived by Cultura Inglesa São Paulo to bring together, under one roof, all the institutions and activities related to culture, education, leisure and trade between Brazil and the United Kingdom. It is in this very building, in fact, that the administrative headquarters of British Charitable Foundation .

We welcomed around 300 people who took advantage of the drinks reception to catch up with old friends and have a chat. The guest list included the leaders of the various organisations that make up the community British presence in São Paulo, both within its diplomatic corps and in the fields of education, trade, tourism, the third sector and leisure. Also in attendance are numerous expatriates from the Commonwealth, as well as people of British descent who have family ties to the United Kingdom and still cherish their traditions.

Special guests

To make things even better, this year we had two special guest performances: the British College of Brazil Pupils’ Choir and the St Paul’s School Parents’ and Teachers’ Choir. The children, led by Ms Silvia Bechara and accompanied on the keyboard by Mr Thiago Araújo, performed right at the start of the event and thrilled the audience, particularly the elderly people supported by the British Foundation who were in attendance.

The adults, meanwhile, performed just before the speeches began, in addition to a few hits, they were also responsible for singing the anthem ‘God Save the Queen’ immediately after the toast in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.

Speeches and charity raffle

After On top of all that, we also heard speeches from three people: Rachel Govier, Chair of the British Foundation, who highlighted the history of the British community in São Paulo and the work being carried out by the FBB to support the elderly people taking part in our projects; Emily Shirtcliff, Minister-Counsellor at the British Consulate in São Paulo, who focused on the various areas of cooperation between the United Kingdom and Brazil; and Sérgio Carré, who gave a moving account of the support the Foundation has provided to his mother in recent years and which it is currently providing to his father.

To round off the event, we held a charity raffle drawn by our Master of Ceremonies, Marcos Versteeg, with the help of Girl Guides from the Carajás Group. More than 20 prizes donated by our supporters were awarded whilst the audience continued to enjoy themselves and make the most of the food and drink at the party.

Results of the charity event

Thanks to our sponsors, supporters and donors, we managed to wrap up this year’s event with a ‘profit’ of around R$15,000 from sponsorships, donations and raffle ticket sales. All these funds, as already mentioned, will be channelled towards our social projects focused on the elderly, notably the Community Centre for the Elderly .

We would like to thank everyone who helped us achieve this excellent result and we hope you will continue to support us in future editions of the Queen’s Birthday, our main charity event organised by the British Society. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped us, as well as our partners:

Sponsorship

St. Paul’s School: a British school that is a long-standing partner of the Foundation;

Datamark: a market intelligence company , which has been supporting the Queen’s Birthday – and, consequently, our work – for several years;

Szazi, Bechara, Storto, Rosa, Figueiredo Lopes Advogados: one of the leading law firms specialising in the third sector in Brazil and our key partner in all legal matters;

CEAE – Centre for Studies in Ecclesiastical Administration SSP-EPP: an accountancy firm specialising in the third sector, which has also been our partner for several years.

Institutional support

British Consulate-General in São Paulo;

Cultura Inglesa: a long-standing partner, supporting our work and our events on every occasion possible;

British Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Brazil – Britcham;

The British College of Brazil;

Carajás Scout Group .

Organisation

WeMake Events.

Support

Estufa Agency;

Beefeater Gin;

Boxer do Brasil – Speciality Beers;

Chivas Whisky ;

Christina’s Patisserie;

Eno Cultura;

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar;

IMM Sport and Entertainment;

Patricia Purdie, visual artist;

Renaissance São Paulo Hotel;

Rent Radius;

Sabre Security and Surveillance ;

São Paulo Yacht Club – SPYC;

Tecnoserv;

Tivoli Hotels and Resorts Brazil ;

Tshirterie;

Twinings of London;

VHouse Boutique Residences.

Would you like to see more photos from the charity event?

To see more photos from the 2019 Queen’s Birthday celebrations, visit the British Society São Facebook page Paulo!