This year's Intellect ICT Industry Charity Ball, backed
by Computer Weekly and the Worshipful Company of Information
Technologists, aims to raise more than £30,000 to help autistic
children.
Several hundred IT professionals, both users and suppliers, are set
to have an evening to remember at the ball on Thursday 8 July. It
is being held in a luxury marquee in the spacious grounds of the
Honourable Artillery Company in the heart of the City of
London.
The theme for this year's glittering evening is "a night on the
Orient Express", 1920s/1930s style, with celebrities, dancing,
cocktails, a sumptuous dinner, fairground rides, entertainers and
more, to provide an evening that the IT industry will not
forget.
The money raised from this year's ball will provide an educational
centre of excellence for the Treehouse Trust, a London-based
charity which works with children with autism. The neurological
disorder, which affects 1 in 110 children, impairs brain areas
controlling language, social interaction and abstract thought,
leading to communication problems.
Proceeds from the ball will fund a pilot project using IT to record
and analyse the work undertaken with each child. This will enable
charity staff to spend more time with the children and ensure that
the programmes for each child are tailored to their individual
needs.
Sponsors for this year's ball include IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Cable
& Wireless, Messagelabs, Anite, Butler Group, Banner
Corporation, and Orient Express Trains and Cruises.
Since its inauguration in 2000 the annual ICT Industry Charity Ball
has raised in excess of £90,000 for various charities.
Patrons
The ICT Industry Ball is backed by leading society figures, headed
by the Duke of Westminster. Other patrons include:
The Earl of Erroll, president of the E-Business Regulatory
Alliance
Lord Renwick, president of Parliamentary IT-industry body
Eurim
Brian Jenkins, deputy chairman of Barclays Bank and a former lord
mayor of London
Stephanie Shirley, founder of Xansa and benefactor of the Oxford
Internet Institute
Campbell McGarvie, master of the Worshipful Company of Information
Technologists
John Leighfield, president of the Institute for the Management of
Information Systems.
Book a table
A table for 10 at the 2004 Intellect ICT Industry Ball costs
£1,450 plus VAT. Individual bookings are also welcome. The event
takes place on the evening of Thursday 8 July. For more
information contact Tina Compton at Intellect
tina.compton@intellectuk.org
020 7395 6711
Industry ball helps disabled
children
At last year's Intellect ICT Charity Ball more than 400 IT
professionals raised £27,500 to provide an IT suite for Barnardo's
Spark Centre in Bethnell Green, East London, which caters for
severely disabled children. Some of the children at the centre
cannot speak or have very little movement, and the adaptive
technology bought with the proceeds from the ball is now offering
them the potential to lead richer lives.
The Spark Centre IT suite was opened in February by Andy Serkis,
the actor who played the Lord of the Rings character Gollum.