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On Wednesday October 13th CRY held its annual Parliamentary Reception at Westminster. The event was hosted by Roger Gale MP, Dr John Pugh MP and The Rt. Hon. George Howarth MP and was the key event in CRY’s Raising Awareness Week. With 2010 being CRY’s 15th anniversary year, we were particularly delighted to have new CRY Patron Pixie Lott as Guest of Honour at the event.
The evening received fantastic cross-party support, with around 40 MPs attending the event to show their support for CRY’s campaigning. We are very grateful to all those Parliamentarians who found the time to attend.
Other guests at the event were CRY supporters / families; CRY Surgery Supporters Network members; CRY Patrons Ben Brown, Simon Halliday and Roger Taylor MBE; representatives from corporate supporters Calor Gas; medical professionals; representatives from sporting organisations; CRY Trustees; CRY Research Fellows; CRY staff – and many others.
There were a number of speakers at the event – MC for the evening, Dr Julian Lewis MP (standing in for Roger Gale MP who was unwell); The Minister of State for Health, Simon Burns MP; CRY Consultant Cardiologist, Professor Sanjay Sharma; CRY Chief Executive, Alison Cox MBE; and CRY Surgery Supporters Network member, James Bailey. During her speech, Alison Cox presented Dr Julian Lewis MP with a painting to thank him for his tremendous support of CRY over the years.
As well as summarising CRY’s achievements and growth over the 15 years of the charity’s existence, speakers also talked about some of CRY’s current and future initiatives. One important announcement was the imminent release of a CRY medical information DVD. This project was instigated by Gareth Mallon of the East Midlands Ambulance Service for distribution to Ambulance crews in his region; but the DVD will also be made available to all kinds of medical professionals throughout the UK.
Following the speeches, guests were treated to a surprise acoustic set by CRY Patron and Guest of Honour, Pixie Lott. Pixie sang three numbers to a very appreciative audience, before posing for photos with many of the guests. Pixie’s appearance at Westminster was also filmed for CBBC’s Newsround programme, with young guest Tom Phillips acting as interviewer for the piece.
The Reception received overwhelming positive feedback from those who attended, and it was a compelling reminder of CRY’s various initiatives, and the importance of CRY’s work.
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| Simon Burns MP Minister of State for Health |
Pixie Lott CRY Patron |
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| Professor Sanjay Sharma CRY Consultant Cardiologist |
Dr Julian Lewis MP MC for the evening (standing in for Roger Gale MP who was unwell) |
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| Alison Cox MBE CRY Chief Executive |
James Bailey Member of the CRY Surgery Supporters Network (SSN |
