The Butterfly AVM Charity Virtual event raised over £23,000, a staggering amount and we are so grateful to you all!

Who knew that we would have had to cancel the annual Butterfly Ball this year as a result of a global pandemic. It was for this reason that the Charities committee felt the need to try and bring some fun and laughter into the homes of our supporters during these uncertain times.

We put our heads together, and with the help of our outstanding AVM taskforce, we set about creating a virtual even. After months and months of planning, mostly due to the fact that most of us struggle with technology, our event took place on the 28th of November 2020.

In an attempt to make the event a success, we soon realised that we would have to utilise all the skills of the PR team alongside the existing team of amazingly talented individuals.

Anthony Mixides of Bond Media and Demetri M Christou pulled out all the stops in hosting the event for the evening and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them both, as without them, this event would not have been possible.

As we wanted this event to be magical we immediately called upon the services of a friend to the Charity, illusionist extraordinaire and BGT finalist, Marc Spelmann, and what a show he put on. We are so very grateful for the shows he put on, which has left us all confused to this day.

But, was this enough, how would we get the party started? Who would help us?

None other than our friend, and world famous DJ and Presenter, Tony “DJ TP” Perry. Wow! Did keep us entertained!

The evening was attended by hundreds of people tuning in from all around the world. The event started with an introduction by Charity Director, George Christou, about the Charities achievements.

This was followed by our Founder Nikki Lilly who wanted to thank everyone who has helped raise money for the Charity and who have helped us throughout the years.

We would like to thank Melanie C, Romesh Ranganathan, Nicole Scherzinger & Katie Piper for their videos of inspiration. Videos can be seen by clicking here.

More, more, more!!? With a fantastic quiz and raffle the evening was complete.

The event was supposed to finish at 10pm, but who knew that at 1am we would still be listening to DJ TP and with more than 100 people still tuned in!

I can honestly say that with some creative ingenuity from the PR team and their Zoom skills, the evening really did feel like we were all in the same room. It was for those few hours that we all forgot about COVID, the hope of better days, and had some good old fashioned fun.

The inspiration of a girl whose dream through her own adversity is to help others, inspired so many people to come together and help raise money for the charity . These much needed funds will be used to increase AVM awareness, help support sufferers and their families, by increasing knowledge through its online platforms and continue to fund potentially life- saving research.

Thank you all for being part of our journey.

Together we can make a change x