Splendours of the Commonwealth – Educate A Girl

Join us on Friday 27 October at the May Fair Hotel

This year we are celebrating 50 years of commitment and dedication to girls education and the highlight of our celebrations is a 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner at the 5-star The May Fair Hotel, London on Friday 27 October 2017.

The evening includes a welcome reception in The Atrium, which will be followed by a three course meal in the stunning Crystal Room. There will be plenty of opportunities for fund-raising, with a raffle, live and silent auctions of must-have experiences and items. There will also be a live band providing music for dancing until carriages at midnight.

Tickets are now available at £100 donation per person. Corporate donations are at £150 per person or £1500 for a sponsored table of ten. Sponsorship packages are also available. Please contact us for more details.

This glittering fundraising Charity Gala Dinner will feature the popular Ngāti Rānana London Māori Club, as well as Sue MacGregor CBE, who is probably one of BBC radio’s most familiar voices having presented Woman’s Hour and the Today Programme for many years, and Jonty Hearnden who is one of the most recognisable faces on TV when it comes to antiques and collectables. Also present will be Louisa Service OBE, whose mother Alice Hemming OBE was the founder of the education fund, our patrons and invited guests from the diplomatic community, our donors, supporters and friends.

It costs an average £500 to sponsor a girl for one year and girls are usually sponsored for an average of four years.

Thank you for your support. Your ticket donation is a fantastic opportunity to show your commitment and passion for such a worthwhile cause that directly impacts the lives of so many girls in so many low and middle economy Commonwealth communities. If you would like to buy tickets, please click here or contact us directly.

Buy Your Tickets

Read Stories About our girls

We have wonderful stories going back 50 years, demonstrating the great impact these girls can have on their families and communities.

Rika from, Pakistan has two brothers and a sister. They were all attending secondary school at the same time, however it was difficult for her father to pay all four fees. They were living hand to mouth. “It was a relief for my father and me when the principal told me that the CGEF was offering sponsorship to students. The school selected my name and I was overjoyed when they awarded sponsorship…I matriculated and went on to gain my Higher Secondary School Certificate. Now I am doing a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) from Riphah International University.

Rika from Pakistan

There is nothing more important in the developing countries than educating girls. As they say, when you educate the mother, you educate the family, when you educate the man, it is just him! There is no doubt in my mind that a girl with education can bring about change, not just for herself and her family, but in the society itself. If you have enough girls educated in a town or a village, the change starts to occur for everyone. As patron of the CGEF, I would like to send the message to everyone that you could not do something more useful than educating a girl who cannot afford education.

Baroness Flather JP DL FRSA

Sharon from Samoa comes from a huge family who depend mostly on fishing for income. Her parents struggled to pay her school fees, which left Sharon at risk of being removed from school. She told us:“I desperately request your assistance for financial support so I can complete my studies. I want to become a doctor.” In Tonga, Leila’s parents divorced when she was three, and is now looked after by her grandmother who weaves mats to sell at market, but this is not enough to pay for all Leila’s school materials. The CGEF sponsored Laila’s books and uniform, alleviating some of her financial pressure.

Sharon from Samoa