- Proceeds from auction of celebrity mementos to raise home for girls -
Sourav Ganguly’s bat may not have taken Team India to the the World Cup Super Eight, but it will do its bit to take some girls from Howrah station to a new home. Joining Sourav’s blade on the block will be Bhaichung Bhutia’s India jersey autographed by Fifa president Sepp Blatter and Rani Mukherjee’s Baabul sari designed by Sabyasachi Mukherjee.
Six select celebrity mementos will go under the hammer during a black-tie charity dinner at Oberoi Grand on Saturday. The proceeds will go towards a home for girls who live on the Howrah platforms. The occasion marks the opening of the India chapter of The Royal Society of St George (RSSG), patronised by Queen Elizabeth II on a day she turns 81.
“We are raising funds this year for a non-government organisation called Seed, which is running shelters for homeless children. I have been to the platforms and seen the problems faced by the girls. This new home is for their rehabilitation,” said Simon Wilson, British deputy high commissioner and chairman of RSSG, Calcutta.
The initiative was taken by the high commission’s third secretary, immigration, Neil Woodhams who teaches English at Seed. “A survey has identified 30 girls, many of them orphans, needing shelter... We will buy land in Sankrail.”
And which item would he be interested in? “I could do with a new golf kit, especially if it has the Team India colours and Simi Mehra’s name on it,” laughed Woodhams. Mehra, the most famous Indian woman golfer, has pledged her LPGA Tour bag and a new set of TaylorMade clubs.
Raima Sen — who has given the dress she wore on the Fashion Week ramp in Mumbai — will be flying down to join Rituparna Sengupta and Bhaichung Bhutia at the dinner. “Yes, this will be my first auction, as it is for a good cause... The last time I was in Howrah station was when we went to Varanasi for Chokher Bali,” said Raima.
Invites to the four-course English dinner, exclusive to 220 guests, have been snapped up by businessmen, expatriates and diplomats for Rs 3,000 apiece. Already, Rs 7 lakh has been raised from sponsors. “We are keeping our fingers crossed for the auction,” said Woodhams.
Six select celebrity mementos will go under the hammer during a black-tie charity dinner at Oberoi Grand on Saturday. The proceeds will go towards a home for girls who live on the Howrah platforms. The occasion marks the opening of the India chapter of The Royal Society of St George (RSSG), patronised by Queen Elizabeth II on a day she turns 81.
“We are raising funds this year for a non-government organisation called Seed, which is running shelters for homeless children. I have been to the platforms and seen the problems faced by the girls. This new home is for their rehabilitation,” said Simon Wilson, British deputy high commissioner and chairman of RSSG, Calcutta.
The initiative was taken by the high commission’s third secretary, immigration, Neil Woodhams who teaches English at Seed. “A survey has identified 30 girls, many of them orphans, needing shelter... We will buy land in Sankrail.”
And which item would he be interested in? “I could do with a new golf kit, especially if it has the Team India colours and Simi Mehra’s name on it,” laughed Woodhams. Mehra, the most famous Indian woman golfer, has pledged her LPGA Tour bag and a new set of TaylorMade clubs.
Raima Sen — who has given the dress she wore on the Fashion Week ramp in Mumbai — will be flying down to join Rituparna Sengupta and Bhaichung Bhutia at the dinner. “Yes, this will be my first auction, as it is for a good cause... The last time I was in Howrah station was when we went to Varanasi for Chokher Bali,” said Raima.
Invites to the four-course English dinner, exclusive to 220 guests, have been snapped up by businessmen, expatriates and diplomats for Rs 3,000 apiece. Already, Rs 7 lakh has been raised from sponsors. “We are keeping our fingers crossed for the auction,” said Woodhams.
